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PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION 


DESIGXED  AS  A    TEXT-BOOK,  AND  FOR    THE 
USE  OF  THE  GENERAL  READER 


BY 

RURIC    N.   ROARK 

DEAN    OF  THE   DEPARTMENT   OF    PEDAGOGY,    KENTUCKY   STATE   COLLEGE, 
LEXINGTON,    KY. 


lb  ID  2. 


NEW  YORK  ■:•  CINCINNATI  •:•  CHICAGO 

AMERICAN    BOOK    COMPANY 

1895. 

NOV  1906 


Copyright,  1895,  by 
AMERICAN  BOOK  COMPANY. 

Roark  Psych. 


K 


PREFACE. 


Psychology  is  the  science  of  mind,  —  mind  in  what- 
ever manifested.  Its  applications  are  numerous, —  in 
biology,  sociology,  criminology,  education, —  and  each 
application  is  rapidly  becoming  a  specialty. 

It  is  with  psychology  in  education  that  this  book  is 
concerned.     But  although   it  is  intended   mainly  and 
primarily  for  teachers,  it  is  hoped  that  others  whose 
\^  business  it  is  to  educate  the  human  mind,  and  to  in- 
fluence its  growth,  may  find  something  herein  that  will 
|^    serve  them  also.     If  the  book  aids  in  quickening  an 
"     interest  in  mind  study  as  applied  to  education,  in  the 
narrower"  or  in  the  broader  sense,  its  chief  purpose  will 
be  accomplished. 

RURIC    N.    ROARK. 

Kentucky  State  College,  Lexington, 
May,  1895. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAI'TKK  PAGE. 

I.   Introduction 7 

II.  A  Classification  of  Mental  Phenomena     ...  16 

III.  The  Physical  Basis 21 

I V.  Mind:  Consciousness 33 

V.  Conditions  of  Mental  Activity 46 

VI.  The  Intellect:   Presentative  Faculties  ....  67 

VII.  The  Intellect:  The  Representative  Faculty      .     .  79 

VIII.  The  Intellect:  The  Relational  Faculty      ...  98 

IX.  The  Intellect :  Imagination 109 

X.  The  Sensibilities 118 

XI.  The  Sensibilities,  continued 134 

XII.  The  Will 148 

XIII.  Operations  of  the  Mind:  Acquisition      ....  155 

XIV.  Cultivation  of  Acquisitive  Faculties     ....  180 
XV.  Assimilation :  Conception,  Reasoning     .     .     .     .191 

XVI.  Assimilation  :  Imagining 206 

XVII.  Assimilation:  Willing 217 

XVIII.  Reproduction 229 

XIX.  Applications  of  Psychology  to  Formal  Education.  244 

XX.   Methodology 265 

XXI.   Methods  and  Records  of  Mind  Study  .     .     .     .  284 

Index 305 


CHAPTER    I. 

INTRODUCTION. 

THIS  book  is  written  for  the  average  teacher,  and  be- 
cause of  the  deep  interest  that  the  average  teacher  — 
the  private  in  the  grand  army  of  education  —  is  taking 
in  the  subject. 

In  its  method  of  presentation  it  combines  such  prac- 
tical experience  as  the  author  has  gained  from  many 
years'  teaching  of  teachers,  with  the  knowledge  of  their 
needs  which  abundant  opportunities  for  observation  of 
these  have  given.  Almost  every  paragraph  was  written 
with  the  thought  constantly  in  mind,  "  What  applica- 
tion can  be  made  of  this  in  the  details  of  everyday 
school  work?  " 

Psychology  sustains  the  same  relation  to  the  science 
of  education  that  anatomy,  physiology,  and  pharmacy 
sustain  to  the  practice  of  medicine.     It  is  as 
necessary  that  the  teacher  should  know  some-  p^ychoi^gy 
thing  of  the  mind's  activities  as  it  is  that  the    t0  Educa- 
physician    should    know  the  bodily   organs 
and   their  functions,  their  normal  and  their  abnormal 
conditions. 

The  teacher  should  be  able  to  tell  why  he  teaches 
arithmetic  or  history,  and  why  he  teaches  them  in  a 
certain  way,  as  the  physician  should  be  able  to  tell  why 
he  prescribes  dieting  and  exercise  for  certain  ailments, 
and  this  or  that  drug  for  other  diseases.     Just  as  the 

7 


8  PS  \  CIIOLOG  V  IN  ED  UCA  'J  JON. 

physician  should  know  the  specific  effect  of  any  medi- 
cine upon  the  organs  of  the  body,  so  the  teacher  should 
know  the  effect  of  a  given  school  exercise  or  branch  of 
study  on  the  different  faculties  of  the  mind. 

It  seems  self-evident  that  no  real  science  of  educa- 
tion is  possible,  except  as  it  is  founded  on  psychology, 
and  that  the  work  of  the  individual  teacher,  from  the 
kindergarten  to  the  university,  will  be  valuable  in  pro- 
portion as  it  is  directed  by  some  intelligent  compre- 
hension of  the  activities  of  the  mind  and  the  laws 
of  its  growth. 
Points  to  Attention  is  asked  to  certain  character- 
be  noted.  istics  in  the  treatment  of  the  subject,  as 
herein  offered. 

i.  The  full  and  logical  outline,  by  which  the  reader 
may  guide  his  study  of  this  and  other  similar  books, 
and  which  presents  in  compact,  connected  form  the 
several  topics  to  be  discussed. 

2.  The  care  with  which  all  terms  technical  to  the 
subject-matter  are  defined. 

3.  The  sharp  distinction  drawn  between  the  faculties 
of  the  mind,  and  the  operations  which  they,  singly  or  in 
groups,  perform. 

4.  The  constant  emphasis  laid  throughout  upon  the 
necessity  and  the  means  of  carrying  psychology  into 
the  daily  work  of  the  school. 

5.  The  avoidance  of  speculative  metaphysics,  beyond 
a  few  suggestions  which  may  serve,  perhaps,  to  stimu- 
late those  who  desire  to  do  so  to  pursue  the  study  in 
other  than  its  educational  relations. 

Technicalities  have  not  been  multiplied.  The  terms 
used  are  in  the  main  those  in  accepted  use  by  other 
writers  on  mental  phenomena.       When  new  terms  are 


INTRODUCTION.  g 

introduced,  or  old  ones  used  with  changed  meaning, 
careful  definitions  are  given,  so  there  should  be  no  occa- 
sion for  confusion.    There  is  no  room  for  dog- 

i       t  111  r  Terms  used. 

matism  in  psychology ;  and,  though  some  ot 
the  definitions  may  appear  dogmatic  and  final,  they  are 
merely  intended  to  present  concisely  the  writer's  views 
of  present  knowledge,  and  to  afford  some  assistance  in 
constructing  a  psychological  terminology.  The  writer 
does  not  believe  that  difficult  language  is  in  any  degree 
necessary  in  a  psychological  discussion. 

Although  it  is  remembered  that  the  mind  is  a  unit,  and 
has  no  divisions,  yet  the  term  faculties  is  used,  because 
there  is  no  better  term  by  which  to  express  the  fact 
that  the  mind  manifests  its  activity  in  different  ways. 
Dr.  Laurie  says,  in  his  "  Institutes  of  Education,"  "  It 
seems  to  me  quite  unnecessary  to  abandon  the  use  of  so 
useful  a  word."  Dr.  Ladd  indorses  the  term  by  using 
it,  and  so  also  does  Dr.  Van  Norden.  I  am  content 
to  be  in  such  excellent  company,  and  shall  use  faculties 
as  it  has  always  been  used,  to  name  collectively  the 
different  phases  of  the  mind's  activity. 

Man  gained  his  first  know  ledge  of  the  material  world 
through  observation  of  it.  So,  when  man  first  began 
to  study  himself,  he  turned  the  mind  in  upon  Methods  of 
itself,  and  observed  its  phenomena.  This  study, 
observation  of  self  by  self  is  called  introspection.  There 
are  also  the  observational  and  comparative,  the  labora- 
tory, and  the  classroom  methods  of  studying  mental 
phenomena. 

Introspection  is  a  valid  and  valuable  method  of  in- 
vestigation, for  the  mind  presents  phenomena    introspec- 
which  the  mind  can  as  truly   observe  as   it        tion- 
can  observe  the  changes  going  on  in  the  material  world. 


I o  PS  YCHOLOG  V  IN  ED UCA  TION. 

The  mind  can  watch  itself  reasoning,  or  enjoying,  or 
desiring,  as  well  as  it  can  watch  a  laboratory  experi- 
ment or  an  eclipse  of  the  moon.  Its  interpretations  of 
what  it  observes  are  just  as  trustworthy  in  the  one  case 
as  in  the  other,  and  the  mental  phenomena  are  almost 
as  classifiable  as  the  material  phenomena. 

The  habit  of  introspection  —  of  observing  one's  own 
mental  states  and  acts  —  is  hard  to  form,  and  requires 
effort  and  practice.  The  same  may  be  said,  however, 
of  the  habit  of  correct  observation  of  any  class  of  phe- 
nomena. But,  once  formed,  the  habit  becomes  one 
of  the  safest  and  most  helpful  guides  in  the  study  of 
psychology. 

As  a  corrective  to  the  personal  bias  that  inheres  in 
the  introspective  method,  and  as  a  positive  aid  in  col- 
lecting data  and  noting  points  of  view  that 

Observa-  &  fc>    ir 

tionai      one's  own  mind  cannot  furnish,  the  observa- 
'     tionai  (or  comparative)  method  is  excellent. 
Since  we  are  all   the  time   surrounded  by  our  fellow- 
minds,  this  method  is  as  easy  to  use  as  the  introspective. 
Study  people's  beliefs,  habits,  conduct,  and  character. 
Observe  their  environment,  their  methods  of  reasoning 
about  common  matters,  and  the  causes  of  their  acts. 
Compare  their  apparent  standpoint  with  your  own,  and 
try  to  put  yourself  at  their  point  of  view.     In  this  way 
one's  knowledge  of  practical  psychology  is  greatly  in- 
creased, and  a  habit  is  formed  of  more  liberal  and  gen- 
erous treatment  of  those  from  whom  one  must  differ. 
But  the  comparative  method  has  a  much  wider  appli- 
n  cation   than  what   has   just   been  said  about 

Compara-  ■> 

uve        it  would  indicate.     Our  knowledge  of  anat- 
omy and  biology,  of  language  and   art,  has 
been  greatly  and  rapidly  increased  and   liberalized  by 


IN  TROD  UC  7Y0JV.  1 1 

the  comparative  method  of  study,  —  putting  two  or 
more  anatomical  structures,  or  plants,  or  languages, 
under  observation  at  once,  and  noting  their  likenesses 
and  differences.  So  in  the  study  of  mind  much  has 
been  gained,  and  vastly  more  is  to  be  gained,  for  the 
science  of  psychology,  by  comparing  the  methods  of 
thought  and  the  motives  of  action  of  one  people  or 
race  with  those  of  another ;  and  the  psychologist  of 
to-day  does  not  consider  it  beneath  him  to  make  a 
careful  comparative  study  of  mind  in  the  lower  animals. 
The  teacher  can  follow  this  example  with  much  interest 
and  profit. 

It  is  only  within  the  past  few  years  that  the  laboratory 
method  of  studying  mind  has  come  into  use.  There 
is  a  considerable  and  increasing  number  of  Laboratory 
well-equipped  psychological  laboratories  in  Method, 
the  United  States.  The  laboratory  method  is  con- 
cerned mostly  with  physiological  psychology,  which  is, 
after  all,  only  physiology,  even  though  it  be  the  physi- 
ology of  the  nervous  system  and  the  special  organs  of 
sense,  —  the  material  tools  of  the  mind.  And  after 
physiological  psychology  has  had  its  rather  prolix  say, 
causal  connection  of  the  physical  organs  with  psychic 
action  is  as  obscure  and  impossible  of  explanation  as 
ever.  Dr.  Laurie  very  aptly  says,  "  After  all,  psycho- 
physics  can  never  be  more  than  physics."  But  the 
laboratory  method  can  be  of  excellent  service  in  de- 
termining the  material  conditions  of  mental  action,  in 
detecting  special  deficiencies  and  weaknesses,  and  in 
accumulating  valuable  statistics  along  these  lines. 

It  has  been  asserted  that  no  science  can  claim  to  be 
exact  until  it  can  be  reduced  to  formulas  of  weights 
and  measures.     The  assertion  begs  the  question  for  the 


j  2  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TIOiV. 

materialists.  We  shall  probably  never  be  able  to  weigh 
an  idea  or  measure  the  cubic  contents  of  the  memory; 
but  the  rapidity  with  which  ideas  are  formed  or  repro- 
duced by  memory  has  been  measured  in  many  par- 
ticular instances,  and  the  circumstances  that  retard  or 
accelerate  their  formation  or  reproduction  have  been 
positively  ascertained  and  classified.  This  kind  of 
work  has  but  begun.  What  it  will  bring  forth  that  the 
teacher  can  use,  remains  to  be  seen. 

Good  teachers  through  all  time  have  used  what  I 

have  called  the  classroom  method  ;  but  only  in  recent 

classroom   years  has  it  been  systematized,  experimentally 

Method,  directed,  and  its  results  put  upon  record.  It 
consists  in  experimental  observations  made  upon  the 
pupils  of  any  grade,  in  their  daily  work  in  the  classroom. 
To  secure  results  that  have  value,  the  pupils  should  not 
be  made  aware  of  what  is  being  done,  or,  at  least,  of 
the  purpose  of  it. 

These  experimental  observations  may  be  made  by 
any  patient  and  observing  teacher,  upon  such  matters 
as  the  aptitude  of  pupils  for  certain  studies;  the  com- 
parative aptitudes  of  boys  and  girls,  or  of  pupils  of 
different  social  surroundings,  for  the  same  study  ;  how 
pupils  study,  and  why  they  study  that  way  ;  the  readi- 
ness with  which  different  classes  of  facts  are  assimilated 
and  remembered  ;  the  variation  of  mental  power  at 
different  ages;  the  moral  ideas  of  the  pupils,  —  their 
notions  of  duty  and  of  right  and  wrong.  Much  has 
been  done  along  these  lines  of  late,  and  the  results  of 
such  observations  and  experiments  have  been  set  forth 
in  various  educational  publications." 

1  Teachers  will  find  matter  of  much  interest  and  value  in  such 
articles  as  these:   "Tests  on  Memory  and  Senses  of  Children,"  Edu- 


IX 'PRODUCTION. 


13 


This  last  method  of  studying  mind,  and  collecting 
data  to  help  in  the  formation  of  a  psychology  that 
may  be  applied  in  education,  is  usable  by  any  teacher. 
The  best  psychological  laboratory  is  the  schoolroom, 
and  the  teacher  is  rich  in  opportunity. 

To  use  it  intelligently,  and  to  direct  his  investigations 
so  that  they  shall  serve  the  highest  interests  of  his 
calling,  the  teacher  must  know  what  education  is.  And 
fundamental  to  every  useful  application  of  his  data, 
when  he  has  collected  them,  must  be  a  clear  and  ade- 
quate concept  of  teaching. 

Right  education  is  such  a  preparation  of  the  individual, 
in  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral  capacities,  as  zuill 
enable  him  to  secure  the  highest  enjoyment  from    _  . 

o  j   s  j  Education 

their  use,  here  and  hereafter.  This  defini- and  Teaching 
tion  will  hold  for  education  as  process  and 
as  product.  The  definition  is  not  a  selfish  one,  making 
education  out  to  be  a  benefit  to  the  one  only  who  has 
it ;  for  the  "  highest  "  enjoyment  is  found  in  the  full, 
normal  use  of  all  the  faculties  of  the  body  and  mind 
in  such  way  that  others  may  be  benefited  also.  Selfish 
enjoyment  is  not  the  highest  enjoyment. 

Teaching  is  consciously  doing  three  things, —  instruct- 
ing, developing,  training.  Education  is  the  broader 
term,  and  may,  in  its  unlimited  sense,  be  taken  to 
mean  the  sum  of  all  the  influences,  direct  or  indirect, 
that  make  the  individual  what  he  is.  A  distinction 
may  properly  be  made  between  education  in  its  un- 
limited sense,  and  formal  education.  The  five  great 
engines  of  formal  education  are  (1)  the  home,  (2)  the 
school,  (3)  the  press,  (4)  the  pulpit,  (5)  the  platform. 

cational  Review,  New  York,  January,  1S93;  "What  Posture  indi- 
cates," Popular  Science  Monthly,  November,  1S92;  "Child  Study," 
Forum,  February,  1894. 


H 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


Teaching  is  more  restricted  in  its  meaning,  and 
implies  that  an  intelligent  agent  is  selecting,  directing, 
modifying,  and  combining  right  influences  to  produce 
a  desired  effect. 

A  man  is  educated  by  all  the  influences  of  his  life. 
He  may  teach  himself  by  putting  himself  under  the 
influence  of  those  surroundings  and  associations  that 
will  tend  to  make  him  what  he  wants  to  become. 

Instructing  is   directly  giving  information  —  knotvl- 

edge   of  facts,   new    ideas,   and  words  —  to   the  pupil. 

instructing  This  is  the    least   part  of  the  work  of  the 

denned,  teacher,  and  should  be  done  only  for  the 
purpose  of  stimulating  the  desire  for  more  knowledge, 
and  of  furnishing  material  that  the  pupil  cannot  eco- 
nomically get  for  himself.  The  teacher  should  not 
give  information  which  the  pupil,  without  too  much 
waste  of  time,  can  secure  by  his  own  efforts. 

The  result  of  right  instruction  is  useful  knowledge. 

Developing    is    increasing,   through    use,   the    natural 

power  of  an    organ  or  faculty ;    bringing  out    latent 

Developing  energies  and  capacities.     We  may  develop  — 

defined,  increase  the  strength  of  —  a  muscle,  mem- 
ory, conscience,  will.  The  result  of  development  is 
poxver. 

Training  is  causing  an  organ  or  facility,  by  constant 
and  carefully  directed  practice,  to  function  rapidly  and 

Training     well,  with  the  least  expenditure  of  time  and 

denned,  energy.  We  may  train  the  senses,  the  hands, 
tlic   judgment.     The  result  of  training  is  skill. 

1"  emphasize  and  illustrate  the  central  idea  of  these 
definitions,  sonic  others  art:  quoted:  — 

"  Education  seeks,  by  social  stimulus,  guidance,  and 
control,  to  develop  the  natural  powers  of  the  child,  so 


IN  TROD  UCTION.  I  5 

as  to  render  him  able  and  disposed  to  lead  a  healthy, 
happy,  and  morally  worthy  life." — Sully. 

"Education  [teaching]  is  essentially  the  action  of 
other  human  beings  on  the  child,  and  this  only  so  far 
as  it  is  conscious  and  designed." — Sully. 

"  Teaching  is  simply  helping  the  mind  to  perform 
its  function  of  knowing  and  growing." — Laurie. 

"  Teaching  is  the  process  by  which  one  mind,  from 
set  purpose,  produces  the  life-unfolding  process  in 
another." —  Tompkins. 

The  teacher  is  recommended  to  read  the  whole  of 
Herbert  Spencer's  unequaled  essay  on  education. 


16  PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDL'CA  TION. 


CHAPTER  II. 

a  classification  of  mental  phenomena. 
•  The  physical  basis:  the  brain  and  nervous 

SYSTEM. 

i2  Central    end    organs:    brain;    spinal   cord; 

ganglia. 
2"  Connecting  organs  :  nerves. 

I3  Afferent :   carrying  impulses  in. 
23  Efferent:    carrying  impulses  out. 

32  Outer  end   organs :    special   sense  organs ; 
muscles. 

The  psychical  element:  the  mind. 
r  Conditions  of  effective  mental  activity. 

i3  Consciousness. 
23  Attention. 

i4  Involuntary 

24    Voluntary. 

34  Expectant. 
3s  Habit. 

2-  Faculties  (powers  or  capacities)  of  the  mind. 

i    The  intellect. 

I4  Presentative  faculties. 

i5  Objective:  the  physical  senses. 

I6  Touch. 
26  Muscular  sense. 
36  Temperature  sense. 
46  Sight. 


*  The  exponential  figures  in  this  table  indicate  the  coordination  of 
the  respective  subdivisions  of  the  subject  (see  p.  175). 


A  CLASSIFICATION  OF  MENTAL  PHENOMENA. 


'7 


5     Hearing. 

>mell. 
7B  Taste. 
2&  Subjective:  the  intuition. 
24  Representative  faculty:    the   memory 
Is  Kinds  or  forms. 

I6  Involuntary:  remembrance. 
26  Voluntary:   recollection. 
36  Verbal. 
46  Logical. 
26  Functions. 
i6  To  retain. 
26  To  recall. 
315  To  recognize. 
35   Laws. 

i6  The  law  of  use. 

26  The  law  of  interest. 

36  The  law  of  attention. 

46  The  law  of  repetition. 

56  The  laws  of  association  or  relation. 

1"  Association  in  time  and  place. 

2~  Association  of  sign  and  thing  sig- 
nified. 

31  Association    by  similarity  or   re- 
semblance. 

41  Association  of  cause  and  effect. 

3*   The  elaborative  faculties. 

i6  Judgment :  rational,  reflective,  re- 
lational. 
26  Imagination  :   creative. 
2s  The  sensibilities  (susceptibilities):  motives. 
I4   The  emotions. 

i6  Physio-psychic. 
i6  Cheerfulness. 
26  Melancholy. 
36  Anxiety. 
46  Indifference. 
Roark  Psych.  —  2. 


ig  PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 

2*  Intellectual. 
i6  Surprise. 
2ti  Wonder. 
36  Admiration. 
46  Happiness. 
56  Sorrow. 
66  Hope. 
76  Fear. 

86  Feeling  of  shame. 
g6  Feeling  of  the  ludicrous. 
io6  Feeling  of  the  beautiful:  the  aesthetic 
feeling. 

35  Moral. 

i6  Pity  and  sympathy. 

26  Reverence. 

36  Awe. 

46  Conscience. 

2*   The  affections. 

\    Benevolent :  love. 

i6  Love  of  family,  the  basis  of  society. 
26  Love  of  country  :  patriotism. 
36  Love  of  mankind:  philanthropy. 
46  Love  of  God,  the  basis  of  real  religion. 

25  Malevolent. 
i6  Anger. 
26  Hate. 
36  Envy. 
46  Jealousy. 

34   The  desires. 
i&  Physical. 

i6  Desire  for  food,  water,  air. 
26  Desire  for  rest  and  exercise 
36  Desire  for  sleep. 
2b  Intellectual. 

i6  Curiosity  :  the  desire  to  know. 
26  Self-love  :  the  desire  for  approbation. 
36  Ambition  :  the  desire  for  power. 
46  Imitativeness:  the  desire  to  be  or  do 
as  others. 


A  CLASS//- 1  CAT/OX  OF  MENTAL  PHENOMENA. 


IQ 


56  The    social    instinct :    the    desire   for 
companionship. 
3s  Moral :    the    desire    for    harmony 

with  God. 
33  The  will. 

y  The  operations  of  the  mind. 

I3  Acquisition. 
I4  Processes. 

i6  Perception. 

i6  Faculties  :  the  senses. 
26  Products  :  percepts. 

25  Conception. 

i6  Faculty:  judgment. 
26  Subprocesses. 

i7  Comparison  and  discrimination. 
21  Abstraction. 

31  Identification  (classification). 
47  Denomination. 
57   Definition. 
36  Products  :  concepts. 

I1  Qualities  of  concepts. 
i8  Clearness. 
28  Distinctness. 
27  Quantity  of  concepts. 

i8  Comprehension  (intension). 
28  Extension. 

36  Retention  :  by  the  memory. 
23  Assimilation. 
I*  Processes. 

i6  Conception. 

26  Reasoning. 

i6  The  faculty:  judgment. 

26  Methods. 

i1  Inductive. 
27   Deductive. 

36  Products:    conclusions;  new   discov- 
eries ;   truth. 

3*  Imagining  or  creating. 

lti  The  faculty  :   imagination. 


20 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 

26  Process  :  creative  combination. 
36  Products  :  images  ;  types  ;  ideals. 
4&  Willing. 

i6  The  faculty  :  the  will. 
2B  Processes  (steps) 

i7  Solicitation  by  desires,  etc. 
27  Selection  by  judgment. 
.  31   Determination  and  execution  by 
the  will. 
3fi  Product  :  character. 

24   The  results  of  assimilation  are  knowl- 
edge ;  power ;  character. 
33  Reproduction. 

i"    The  inner  process :  creation. 
24    The  outer  process :  expression. 

i&  Physical  expression  :  physical  char- 
acter made  manifest. 
25  Intellectual    expression  :     intellec- 
tual character  made  manifest. 
36  Moral  expression:  moral  character 
made  manifest. 


THE  PHYSICAL  BASIS.  2l 


CHAPTER    III. 

THE  PHYSICAL  BASIS. 

It  is  not  at  all  necessary  to  the  purpose  of  an  educa- 
tional psychology  that  a  minute  discussion  of  nerve 
physiology  be  entered  into.  Only  a  brief  summary  of 
what  is  known  regarding  the  physical  basis  of  mind  will 
be  given  here,  therefore.  All  that  is  known  regarding 
the  subject  may  be  stated  fully  in  one  paragraph : 
Mind  as  we  know  it  rests  upon  a  physical  basis,  which 
acts  upon  mind,  and  upon  which  mind  acts.  What  the 
connection  is  between  mind  and  that  physical  basis,  or 
how  this  connection  is  made  and  maintained,  is  not 
known,  and  most  probably  never  will  be  known. 

Any  text-book  on  the  physiology  of  the  sensitive 
system  describes  with  more  or  less  fullness  the  form, 
structure,  and  functions  of  the  organs  that  constitute 
the  physical  basis  of   mind.     But  the  hard   _.     .  , 

1      '  Physiology 

fact  remains, —  a  fact  which  the  "  new  school  "  is  not 
of  psychologists  seems  to  forget  or  not  to  per-  Psy°holoey- ' 
ceive,  —  that  the  physiology  of  the  nervous  system  is 
not  in  any  sense  psychology.  Undoubtedly,  a  knowl- 
edge of  physiology  materially  aids  the  student  of  psy- 
chology, but  so  docs  a  knowledge  of  chemistry  and 
physics.  Yet  the  materialistic  school  of  psychologists 
would  doubtless  be  the  first  to  smile  at  a  "chemical 
psychology."  In  the  concise  words  of  Benedict,  "  Physi- 
ology will  never  front  the  inner  side  of  a  single  sensa- 


22  PS  YCHOLOGY  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

tion."  Physiology  cannot  pass  beyond  nerve  tissue 
and  its  physical  phenomena,  and  it  must  be  content  to 
tell  us  what  it  can  about  these. 

Whatever  mind  is,  we  know  it  in  ourselves  and  in 

others  only  in  connection  with  nerve  matter.     Some 

investigators  have  gone  so  far  as  to  say  that 

Mind  in  b  fc>  J 

Nerve  wherever  there  is  living  gray  nerve  matter 
Matter.  tiiere  js  mind,  whether  in  animal  or  plant. 
It  is  easier  to  prove  the  statement  true  than  to  show 
that  it  is  false.  Whether  it  is  true  or  not  that  mind  is 
always  associated  with  living  gray  nerve  matter,  it  is 
true  that  it  is  not  associated  with  anything  else,  so  far 
as  we  now  know. 

Nerve  tissue  has  the  peculiar  property  of  irritability, 

by  which  may  be  understood  the  readiness  with  which 

it  receives  and  transmits  molecular  disturb- 

Functions 

of  Nerve    ance  from  one  point  to  another.      For  ex- 

issue.      ample,  the  finger  is  pricked  with  a  needle : 

the  point  disturbs  the  molecules  in  the  finger  end  of 

the  nerve,  and  this  disturbance  is  transmitted  rapidly 

to  the  brain. 

Nerve  tissue  is  of  two  kinds, — gray  or  cellular,  and 
wJiitc  or  fibrous.  The  functions  of  the  gray  matter 
seem  to  be  to  receive,  to  generate,  and  to  transmit, 
nerve  disturbance:  the  sole  function  of  the  fibrous 
matter  seems  to  be  to  transmit  nerve  disturbance. 

The  general  arrangement  of  nerve  tissue  in  the  body 
is  in  the  plan  of  various  organs  situated  at  the  surface 
of  the  body;  nerve  fibers  running  from  these  directly 
to  the  brain,  or  to  smaller  masses  of  cellular  nerve 
matter  at  different  points  in  the  body;  and  other  nerve 
fibers  running  from  the  brain  or  the  smaller  masses  to 
muscles  and  to  glandular  organs.     The  nerves  carrying 


THE  PHYSICAL  BASIS. 


23 


impulses  inward  are  called  afferent  or  sensory  ;  those 
carrying  impulses  outward  are  called  efferent  or  motor. 
The  business  of  the  outer  sense  organs  is  to  receive 
impressions  from  material  objects;  of  the  muscles,  to 
function  in  accordance  with  impulses  carried  to  them  ; 
of  the  nerves,  to  transmit  impressions  to  the  central  or- 
gans ;  and  of  the  central  organs,  to  receive  these  im- 
pulses, and  to  send  out  others,  due  to  them  or  to  mental 
acts,  to  the  muscles  controlling  the  motions  of  the  body 
or  to  the  nerve  terminals  controlling  glandular  secretions. 

In  addition  to  this  arrangement  of  the  nerve  masses, 
called  the  cerebrospinal  system,  there  is  another,  called 
the  sympathetic  system,  whose  business  it  is  to  Nerve 
regulate  and  direct  the  work  of  such  organs  Systems. 
as  the  lungs,  heart,  liver,  etc.,  of  whose  normal  action 
we  are  not  conscious.  Further  description  of  the  sym- 
pathetic system  is  not  relevant  here. 

The  outer  organs  from  which  nerves  run  inward  to 
the  central  nerve  masses  are  called  organs  of  special 
sense.     The  central  masses  are  the  brain,  spi-    _,    _ 

'    I  The  Cere- 

nal  cord,  and  ganglia.  The  organs  of  special  bro-spinai 
sense  are  the  skin  and  muscles,  the  eye,  the  ys ' 
ear,  the  nose,  the  tongue.  Through  the  skin  we  receive 
the  sensations  of  touch  and  temperature ;  through  the 
muscles,  the  sensations  of  motion  and  resistance ; 
through  the  eye,  the  sensation  of  sight;  through  the 
ear,  sound ;  through  the  tongue,  taste. 

The  essential  portion  of  each  special  organ  of  sense, 
as  just  defined,  is  composed  of  nerve  tissue  ;  the  other 
parts  are  appendages  which  aid  in  the  reception  o\ 
impressions.  The  eye  has  but  a  small  quantity  of  nerve 
matter, —  the  retina  ;  the  skin  is  full  of  little  nerve  buds 
that  are  the  real  organs  of  touch  ;   and  so  on. 


24 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


The  whole  body,  with  its  specialized  end  organs,  is 
called  the  sensorium.  The  small  masses  of  nerve  matter 
in  various  parts  of  the  body,  to  which  and  from  which 
some  of  the  nerves  run,  are  called  ganglia  (singular, 
ganglion).  The  spinal  cord  is  the  marrow  of  the  back- 
bone, and  connects  with  the  brain  at  the  base  of  the 
skull.  The  brain  is  the  chief  central  organ,  both  in  size 
and  importance. 

The  cerebro-spinal  system  is  sometimes  compared  to 

a  telegraphic  system,  of  which  the  brain  is  the  great 

central  office ;  the  spinal  cord  and  ganglia, 

Nervous  Sys-  - 

tem  like  a    less  important  central  offices ;  the  nerves,  the 
Telegraphic  connectina-  lines;   the  special  sense  organs, 

System.  &  >  r  fc> 

the  points  from  which  messages  are  sent  in ; 
and  the  muscles,  the  individuals  to  whom  messages  are 
sent.  The  similarity  may  be  illustrated  by  tracing  a 
sensation  and  its  results.  If  you  touch  a  hot  stove,  the 
little  nerve  buds  in  your  finger  are  excited  ;  the  affer- 
ent nerves  carry  the  news  of  the  accident  to  the  brain, 
which  sends  out  along  the  efferent  nerves  a  sharp 
command  to  the  muscles  of  the  arm  to  contract,  and 
withdraw  the  finger. 

Much  of  the  work  of  the  muscles  is  done  on  com- 
mands.sent  out  from  some  lower  center  than  the  brain. 
The  spinal  cord  directs  much  of  our  muscular  action 
without  troubling  the  brain  about  it.  After  we  once 
learn  how,  we  walk,  form  letters  and  figures,  and  per- 
form most  of  our  ordinary  muscular  functions,  without 
giving  them  any  direct  voluntary  thought.  The  brain 
leaves,  so  to  -peak,  such  routine,  mechanical  matters  to 
the  lower  nerve  centers. 

Actions  which  are  performed  as  the  result  of  some 
impression  upon  the  nerve  center,  when  we  do  not  give 


THE  PHYSICAL   BASIS. 


25 


conscious  notice  to  the  impression,  or  when  the  result 
is  not  under  control  of  the  will,  arc  called  reflex  actions. 
If  the  sole  of  the  foot  be  tickled,  the  leg  Reflex 
will  be  jerked  away.  If,  when  the  legs  are  Action. 
crossed  in  sitting  down,  the  knee  is  tapped  smartly,  the 
foot  flies  up.  If  some  object  be  brought  suddenly 
near  the  eyes,  the  lids  quickly  shut  without  our  will- 
ing them  to  do  so. 

The  whole  process  of  digestion  is  controlled  and 
directed  by  reflex  action.  The  food,  as  it  passes  through 
the  different  parts  of  the  alimentary  canal,  furnishes  the 
stimulus  necessary  to  cause  the  nerve  centers  reflexly 
to  affect  the  muscular  coats  and  secretory  organs  of 
the  digestive  tract.  Even  the  act  of  swallowing  is  reflex, 
and  not  voluntary  beyond  a  certain  point.  If  a  morsel 
of  food  gets  beyond  this  point,  it  is  swallowed,  whether 
we  will  it  or  not. 

The  explanation  of  reflex  action,  briefly,  is  that  an 
impression  is  made  upon  the  end  of  some  afferent 
nerve,  which  carries  the  impulse  in  to  some  ganglion 
or  to  the  spinal  cord.  This  reflects  it  on  to  an  efferent 
nerve,  which  carries  it  to  the  muscle,  thus  causing 
muscular  contraction. 

Reflex  action  may  take  place  through  the  higher  as 
well  as  through  the   lower  nerve  centers.      Holding  a 
plow  in  the  furrow,  rowing  a  boat,  guiding  a 
bicycle,  are  illustrations.     After  we  become  tion  tnrough 
familiar  with  these  activities,  —  after  we  have      Higher 

111  c  1  •  1  Centers. 

learned    how,  —we    perform    them    involun- 
tarily, and  without  consciously  noting  tin-  impression 
in  response  to  which  the  hands  or  legs  turn  this  way 
or  that. 

The   higher  forms  of  reflex  action   are  the  basis  of 


26  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED UCA  TION. 

many  habits,  and  it  is  one  of  the  chief  functions  of  the 

teacher  to  help  his  pupils  form  correct  habits  of  all 

„  „         kinds.     Let  pupils  be  trained,  through  oft- 
Reflex  . 

Action  is  repeated  reflex  actions,  to  hold  the  pen 
Habit.  properly,  to  handle  the  pointer  properly, 
to  remove  the  hat  on  entering  the  schoolroom,  to  walk 
without  shuffling,  and  to  do  many  other  things  that 
add  to  the  good  order  and  comfort  of  the  school. 
Even   moral  conduct   becomes   reflex. 

There  is  a  peculiar  phenomenon,  of  much  value  to 

the  teacher,  connected  with  the  fact  that  impressions 

made  on  the  ends  of  the  nerves  at  the  sur- 

Inhibition.  .         _  ,   .  , 

face  of  the  body,  in  the  skin  or  other  sense 
organs,  are  carried  inward  to  the  central  organs  by  the 
nerves,  and  that  from  the  central  organs  impulses  are' 
sent  out  over  other  nerves.  If  the  upper  lip  be  firmly 
pressed  just  under  the  nose  when  the  desire  to  sneeze 
is  felt,  the  act  of  sneezing  will  be  prevented.  In  some 
way  not  fully  understood,  the  impulse  sent  from  the 
lip  checks  the  impulse  coming  to  the  muscles  that  are 
used  in  sneezing.  This  checking  is  called  inhibition. 
A  little  experimentation  would  doubtless  reveal  many 
other  such  instances  of  inhibition  in  the  lower  forms  of 
nervous  and  muscular  activity. 

But  the  form  of  inhibition  important  to  the  teacher 

is  that  which  is  caused  by  the  will.      Examples  of  this 

inhibition    are  observable  every  day  in  the  play  of  chil- 

by  win.  dren  and  in  the  daily  conduct  of  adults.  To 
illustrate:  If  the  sole  of  the  foot  is  tickled,  the  tend- 
ency is  for  the  leg  to  jerk  away  ;  but  an  effort  of  the 
will  inhibits  this  impulse,  and  the  leg  docs  not  move. 
If  a  boy  gets  hurt  at  play,  the  natural  impulse  is  to  cry  ; 
but  the  will   inhibits  the  nerve  impulses  going  out  to 


THE  PHYSICAL   BASIS. 


27 


the  muscles  that  are  used  in  crying,  and  the  lad  restrains 
what  he  believes  to  be  a  weakness.  A  man  gets  angry 
with  his  neighbor,  and  the  first  impulse  is  to  strike  him  ; 
but  the  will  inhibits  the  impulse  starting  outward  to  the 
muscles,  and  the  hand  is  restrained. 

Then  the  stronger  the  will,  the  greater  will  be  the 
self-control.  Through  the  inhibitive  power  of  will,  bad 
habits  are  corrected,  evil  tendencies  rooted  out,  self- 
restraint  is  accomplished,  and  character  formed. 

At  this  point,  if  at  no  other,  any  materialistic  theory 
of  mind  —  anything  that  would  identify  mind  with 
nerve  tissue  in  action  —  must  break  down,  for  no  mate- 
rialist has  explained  the  fact  that  a  nerve  stimulus  can 
come  from  within,  in  the  form  of  a  self-originating  act 
of  will. 

The  impossibility  of  discovering  what  the  connection 
is  between  mind  and  nerve  tissue  has  been  referred  to  ; 
but  that  there  is  an  intimate  connection  is         ..  M 

Mind 

shown  by  the  commonest  facts  of  our  every-  and  Nerve 
day  experience.     Anything  that  affects  the 
nerve  tissue,  especially  the  gray  tissue  of  the   brain, 
more  or  less  affects  the  mind. 

Mental  vigor  depends  upon  nutrition  as  much  as  mus- 
cular vigor  does.  In  fact,  the  brain  receives  a  larger 
proportionate  share  of  blood  than  any  other  organ  of 
the  body.  Pain  in  any  part  of  the  body  affects  mental 
activity.  Too  much  or  too  little  blood  supply  in  the 
brain;  too  much  or  too  little  sleep;  narcotics,  anaes- 
thetics, and  all  substances  that  affect  the  nervous  sys- 
tem through  the  stomach,  —  all  register  their  effects  in 
an  increased  or  diminished  activity  and  power  of  mind. 

Mental  action  may  be  wholly  suspended  by  reducing 
the  supply  of  blood  to   the  brain,  through  a  pressure 


28  PS  YCHOLOG  V  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

upon  the  arteries  of  the  neck,  far  short  of  that  neces- 
sary to  produce  death.  A  clot  of  blood  no  larger  than 
a  wheat  grain,  or  a  minute  splinter  of  bone  from  the 
skull,  pressing  upon  the  surface  of  the  brain,  is  sufficient 
to  change  a  man  of  culture  into  an  ignoramus,  or  one 
of  eminent  character  into  a  moral  wreck.  Every  sur- 
geon can  give  instances  of  a  change  in  mental  or  moral 
character  as  the  result  of  accidents  to  the  head.  Epi- 
lepsy and  congenital  idiocy  may  be  cured  in  children 
by  trepanning. 

But  although  these  facts  show  a  most  intimate  and 

vital  connection  between  mind  and  brain,  other  facts 

Mind  above  show  that  the  mind  is  free,  sometimes  to  an 

Matter,  extent  that  is  very  surprising,  from  the  phy- 
sical weaknesses  that  affect  the  brain  or  other  parts  of 
the  body.  Some  of  the  world's  best  literature  has  been 
written  by  men  and  women  of  frail  physique,  whose 
minds  did  high  creative  work  in  the  midst  of  acute 
physical  pain.  Indeed,  in  some  cases,  it  seems  the 
frailer  the  body  and  the  more  acute  the  physical  suffer- 
ing, the  clearer  and  more  active  the  mind. 

Whatever  of  value  there  is  in  "mind  cure"  rests 
upon  the  fact  that  mind  can  rise  superior  to,  and  domi- 
nate, the   body.     The  effect   of  the   mental 

Mind  Cure.  .  .  . 

state  in  the  cure  of  disease  is  recognized  by 
every  physician  as  being  greater  sometimes  than  that 
of  all  his  medicines.  The  patient  who  is  in  a  hopeful 
frame  of  mind  and  wills  to  get  well,  will  recover  far 
more  rapidly  than  one  who  lias  lost  courage  or  has 
grown  indifferent. 

The  effects  of  the  mental  states  upon  the  physical 
condition  of  well  people  are  quite  marked.  Sorrow 
stimulates  the  tear  glands,  as  does  joy  also  sometimes; 


THE  PHYSICAL   BASIS. 


29 


strong  emotion  of  any  kind  inhibits  the  physical  desire 
for  food  ;  and  all  the  organs  of  the  body  are  subject 
more  or  less  to  inhibition  or  stimulation  from     .    . 

Action  of 

purely  mental  states  that  in  no  sense  have  Mind  upon 
their  origin  in  the  nerve  tissue.  Dr.  Rock-  Body- 
well  has  shown  that  jaundice  may  be  brought  on  by  a 
purely  mental  emotion.  Anger  is  shown  in  the  ten- 
sion of  the  muscles  and  the  clinching  of  the  fists ;  ex- 
citement of  any  kind  is  outwardly  manifested  in  the 
trembling  hands,  the  shifting  feet,  or  the  drumming 
fingers.  The  mental  disturbance  is  discharged  along 
the  motor  nerves  into  the  muscles.  Such  facts  show 
that  the  mind  affects  the  body  quite  as  markedly  as  the 
body  may  affect  the  mind. 

One  other  fact  remains  to  be  specifically  noted  in  this 
connection.  Mental  action  is  accompanied  by  an  in- 
creased temperature  and  wasting  of  the  brain  ■       .   „.    . 

1  o  Brain  Waste 

that  is,  thinking,  or  feeling,  or  willing,  uses  up  and  Mental 
brain  matter,  and  increases  the  heat  of  the 
brain,  just  as  walking  uses  up  muscle  tissue,  and  increases 
the  heat  of  the  muscle.  Intense  anger,  for  instance, 
causes  the  nerve  cells  to  explode  so  they  can  almost  be 
felt  discharging  their  nervous  energy;  and  the  phrase, 
the  heat  of  passion,  is  physiologically  exact. 

The  materialists  would  have  us  believe  that  brain 
ivastc  produces  mental  action,  that  an  emotion  is  simply 
a  change  in  the  quantity  and  arrangement  of  the  mole- 
cules of  brain  matter.  The  bald  statement  of  such 
a  proposition  is  surely  sufficient  answer  to  it;  but  it 
may  be  worth  while  to  reemphasize  the  fact  that  the 
mind  can  originate  nerve  impulses  without  having  first 
received  any  excitation  through  nerve  matter. 

By  the  phrase  brain  localization  is  meant  the  localiz- 


30  PS  YCH0L0G  V  IX  ED  i  7CA  TION. 

ing  of  certain  mental  activities  in  certain  portions  of 
the  brain.  This  has  been  done  to  some  extent  with 
Brain  some  of  the  less  purely  intellectual  activities. 
Localization.  certain  areas  of  the  brain  have  been  pretty 
conclusively  shown  to  be  the  centers  of  motor  activity; 
that  is,  from  these  areas  of  the  brain  substance  those 
impulses  start  out  which  take  effect  in  ordinary  muscu- 
lar movements.  The  area  of  language  seems  to  be  the 
only  one  of  the  areas  of  the  more  purely  intellectual 
activities  that  has  been  definitely  fixed.  When  this 
point  in  the  brain  — situated  at  the  lowest  frontal  gyrus 
—  is  affected  by  disease,  there  is  a  loss  of  power  to  utter 
or  write  words,  or  to  use  them  correctly.  This  loss  of 
power  is  called  aphasia.  It  manifests  itself  in  various 
ways,  and  presents  many  peculiar  phenomena. 

While  modern  experimentation  has  shown  that  there 
was  something,  after  all,  in   phrenology,  it  has  so   far 

Brain  and    failed  to  do  more  than  establish  the  general 

intelligence,  conclusion  that  the  front  of  the  cerebrum  is 

the  seat  of  the  thought  power,  and  that  intelligence  is 

to  some  extent  proportioned  to  the  weight  of  the  brain 

and  the  convolutions  of  its  surface. 

Applications  to  Teaching. 

There  seems,  perhaps,  to  the  teacher-student  of  psy, 
chology  very  little  in  this  that  he  can  apply  to  his  work 
as  a  teacher;  and  in  a  certain  sense  that  is  true  in  the 
present  state  of  investigation.  We  shall  doubtless  have 
to  wait  some  while  yet  before  experimentation  and  ob- 
servation in  this  field  will  supply  a  sufficient  body  of 
facts  to  enable  us  to  establish  any  definite  conclusions, 
helpful  to  the  educator,  beyond  what  we  ahead)-  have. 
The  psycho-physic  facts  upon  which  emphasis  is  placed 


THE  PHYSICAL  BASIS. 


31 


just  now,  and  which  seem  to  promise  something  worth 
the  teacher's  while,  are  (1)  that  in  different  years  of  the 
child's  life  certain  organs  and  perhaps  certain  brain  areas 
become  active,  while  others  that  have  been  active,  or 
are  yet  to  become  so,  are  lying  dormant ;  (2)  that  there 
is  some  relation  between  size  and  weight  of  body  and 
mental  power ;  and  (3)  that  the  sexes  differ  materially 
in  the  rate  of  bodily  development.  We  may  be  justi- 
fied in  concluding  from  these  facts  that  exercises  should 
be  planned  to  accord  with  the  mode,  rate,  and  time  of 
physical  variation.  These  points  will  receive  further 
and  fuller  consideration  in  Chapter  XXI. 

Some  other  practical  suggestions  may  possibly  be 
drawn  from  what  has  been  said  in  this  chapter. 

1.  The  teacher  should   remember  that  the   ingoing 
stream  of  nervous  energy  is  in  the  child  a  mental  stream, 
carrying  external  facts  and  impressions  to  an 
awakening  mind  greedy  to  receive  them  ;  the      Motor 
outgoing  stream  is  a  motor  stream,  controlling    Currents- 
the  bodily  energies  of  the  child,  which  need  intelligent 
direction,  but  not  repression.     In  view  of  the  first  fact, 
childhood  should  be  surrounded  with  every  influence, 
both  in  objects  of  sense  and  in  human  conduct,  that  may 
quicken  the  mind  to  a  right  growth.     The  earliest  im- 
pressions make  the  most  ineffaceable  records. 

In  connection  with  the  second  fact,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  mind  of  the  child  has  not  yet  become 
accustomed  or  fitted  to  its  bodily  investment,  and  that 
therefore  the  growing  child  has  but  little  motor  control. 
In  view  of  this,  teachers  of  kindergarten  or  primary 
grades  should  be  careful  not  to  set  any  exercises  except 
those  requiring  the  simplest  muscular  adjustment. 

2.  Mental  activity  depends  largely  upon  brain  rest  and 


3^ 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


brain  nutrition.     The  teacher  cannot  supervise  nutri- 
tion, so  far  as  food  is  concerned  ;   but  he  can,  through 
„    .    „       ventilation    and   exercise,  provide   for   thor- 

Brain  Rest  '    r 

and        oughly  oxygenated  blood  and  a  good  circula- 
Nutntion.    t-Qn  tQ  carry  jt  to  the  Drajn  .  ana<  he  can  do 

something  for  brain  rest  by  having  frequent  recesses, 

and  requiring  but  little  study  at  home  on  the  part  of 

young  pupils. 

3.  The  ability  of  the  brain  to  do  its  work  well  as  the 

organ  of  the  mind  depends  very  greatly  upon  the  whole 

physical  environment  of  the  child,  by  which 

tivityand    is  meant  not  only  those  things  that  affect  the 

Physical    body  from  its  outside,  but  also  the  conditions 

Condition. 

of  the  body  itself,  —  cramped  position,  cold, 
irritation,  nervousness,  general  ill  feeling  ;  or  their  oppo- 
sites,  ease,  warmth,  quiet,  comfort.  All  these  things  the 
teacher  is  mainly  responsible  for  in  the  schoolroom. 

A  very  common  error  on  the  part  of  both  teacher 
and  parents,  is  to  act  as  if  children  are  not  nervous. 
They  are,  irritably  so.  A  rasping  voice,  nervous  move- 
ments, or  an  irritable  temper,  in  teacher  or  parent,  all 
react  strongly  upon  children,  and  produce  like  effects  in 
them.  On  the  other  hand,  so  susceptible  are  children 
to  all  influences,  that  good  temper,  cheerfulness,  good 
humor,  even  good  health,  are  "  catching,"  and  that  child 
is  fortunate  whose  teacher  has  these  qualities  for  the 
pupils  to  acquire. 


MIND:  CONSCIOUSNESS.  33 


CHAPTER  IV. 

MIND:  CONSCIOUSNESS. 

No  teacher  can  long  observe  the  growth  of  the  child 
mind,  if  indeed  he  will  but  observe  it,  without  finding 
himself  face  to  face  with  the  question,  "  What  is  this 
that  gains  power  from  day  to  day,  that  seems  to  be 
hungry  to  know,  and  grows  in  strength  from  what  it 
feeds  upon  ;  that  thinks,  and  feels,  and  wills,  and  makes 
up  the  personality  of  the  child  ?  " 

He  knows,  of  course,  it  is  mind ;  but  what  is  mind? 
No  reply  is  possible  that  does  not  raise  more  questions 
than  it  answers.     But  some  consideration  of     What  is 
this  question  is  well  worth  the  while  of  those      Mmd? 
who  suppose  there  is  no  miracle  in  what  is  familiar. 

Every  intelligent  human  being  is  aware  that  there  is 
a  something  he  calls  "myself,"  —  a  something  that  is 
not  his  limbs,  nor  body,  nor  brain,  nor  all  of  them  taken 
as  a  whole;  for  he  speaks  of  "  my  hand,"  "  my  body," 
"  my  brain."  The  self,  then,  the  ego,  is  universally  felt, 
even  by  those  who  do  not  think  upon  such  subjects,  to 
be  a  something  apart  from  the  physical  being,  —  a  some- 
thing that  bids  the  muscles  contract,  that  sees  and  hears 
and  tastes ;  a  something  that  loves  and  fears,  compares 
and  decides.  While  this  something  is  closely  connected 
with  and  dependent  upon  the  physical  organization,  it 
is  not  in  any  sense  identical  with  it. 

We  can  measure  the  length  and  diameter  of  a  nerve 
Roark   Psych.  —  3 


34 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


fiber,  we  can  weigh  a  ganglion,  we  can  chemically  analyze 

the  cellular  matter  of  the  brain,  after  it  is  dead  ;   for  these 

are  matter.     But  none  of  these  things  can  we  do  to  the 

mind.     To  speak  of  a  cubical  emotion,  a  linear  thought, 

an  acid  judgment,  would  seem  the  veriest  nonsense,  even 

to  those  who  had  never  given  a  half  hour  in  their  lives  to 

the  study  of  mental  phenomena. 

But  there  is  a  striking  analogy  between  the  mind  and 

the  body  in  many  things.     The  body  assimilates  food, 

.     ,       ,      and  grows.     The  mind's  food  is  knowledge- 
Analogy  be-  &  *=> 

tween  Mind  material,  percepts  and  concepts  and  relations. 
°  y'  In  proportion  as  it  assimilates  these,  it  grows. 
This  is  not  merely  figurative,  it  is  actual.  The  man  has 
more  mind  than  the  child.  And  just  as  unassimilated 
food  clogs  the  digestive  system,  and  retards  the  growth 
of  bodily  tissue,  so  facts  merely  crammed  into  memory, 
and  not  understood,  —  that  is,  perceived  in  their  rela- 
tions, —  clog  mental  growth.  The  bodily  organs  de- 
velop and  grow  stronger  by  proper  use.  So  the  mind, 
like  muscles,  gets  stronger  through  proper  exercise.  As 
an  unused  muscle  becomes  soft  and  weak,  so  memory,  or 
judgment,  or  will,  becomes  ineffective  through  neglect 
or  misuse. 

The  normal  body  needs  activity  for  its  growth,  and  so 
delights  in  it.     Every  healthy  animal  —  man  or  lower  — 

Mind  natu-  loves  to  play,  to  use  the  muscles,  to  exercise 
rally  Active.  tne  normal  bodily  functions.  Man,  when  in 
health,  also  delights  in  mental  activity.  To  think  is  to 
live,  to  know  is  to  be  happy.  The  right  use  of  all  the 
faculties  of  the  mind  gives  the  highest  happiness.  The 
normal  intellect  rejoices  in  activity.  And  as  the  best 
time  to  train  and  direct  the  bodily  energies  to  the  for- 
mation of  habits  that  shall  result  in  the  one  prime,  end 


MIND:  CONSCIOUSNESS. 


35 


of  health  is  during  childhood  and  youth,  so,  too,  the 
best  time  in  which  to  establish  mental  habits  that  shall 
lead  to  permanent  mental  vigor  is  during  the  first  two 
decades  of  life.  And  as  the  trained  gymnast  or  athlete 
never  loses  his  love  for  well-directed  bodily  exercise, 
so  the  trained  mind  always  delights  in  thinking. 

The  point  of  greatest  value  to  the  educator  is  that 
the  normal,  healthy  mind  is  not  only  active,  but  it  is 
active  in  a  right  direction.  Then  the  business  of  the 
teacher  is  to  supply  the  best  possible  environment  for 
normal  growth,  and  to  let  the  mind  grow. 

As  the  body  grows  weary  from  prolonged  exercise, 
and  needs  frequent  cessation  from  activity,  —  needs  rest 
and  sleep,  —  so  the  mind  grows  weary  from  continued  ac- 
tivity, and  must  have  rest  before  it  can  resume  its  wonted 
tasks.  And  it  must  be  noted  that  the  mind  can  grow 
weary  independently  of  the  body,  that  is,  when  the 
body  has  not  been  active.  Weariness  of  body  affects 
the  mind  ;  and  when  the  mind  grows  tired  from  intense 
thought,  the  muscles  sometimes  feel  strained  and  sore, 
as  if  they  had  been  guiding  a  plow  or  turning  out 
spadefuls  of  earth  all  day. 

But  mind  and  body  grow  weary  independently.  The 
body  may  grow  tired  from  its  continued  expenditure 
of  energy,  while  the  mind   is  inactive  ;   and    ... 

°J  '  Mind  and 

the   mind,  after   prolonged   effort,   demands  Body  inde- 
rest  before  it  will  do  more,  though  the  body     pen 
may  have  been  quiet   for  hours.     Such  facts,  of  daily 
occurrence    in  the   experience   of   every  one,  serve  to 
illustrate  further  that  mind  and  body,  though  closely 
related,  are  two  distinct  things. 

One  other  peculiar  similarity  between  mind  and  body 
is   found  in   the    fact   that   mind  seems  to   have  both 


36 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


inertia  and  momentum.  A  railway  train  standing  still 
is  inert.  Force  is  required  to  get  it  in  motion.  The 
property  of  inertia  inherent  in  all  matter  makes  it 
harder  to  start  the  train  than  to  keep  it  going.  The 
train  in  motion  has  what  is  called  momentum,  —  accumu- 
lated motion  that  carries  it  on,  even  when  the  steam  is 
...  . .        cut  off  or  the  lever  reversed.     The  mind  is 

Mind  has 

inertia  and  sometimes  very  similar  to  the  train,  in  that, 

Momentum.  •  ,        i        i-i  i  %• 

owing  to  bodily  weakness  or  disease,  or  an 
inertness  of  its  own,  it  has  to  be  driven  to  its  work; 
and  often,  when  fully  occupied  upon  some  line  of 
thought,  it  is  equally  hard  to  check  its  activity,  or  to 
turn  it  to  some  other  subject.  Every  one  has  experi- 
enced this  difficulty. 

But  while  these  analogies  are  peculiar  and  of  great 

interest,  still  they  afford  no  explanation  of  what  mind 

Mind       is.     It  may  be  stated  at  once  that  it  is  not 

defined,  possible  to  know  what  anything  is  in  its 
essence, — -what  snow  is,  what  iron  is,  what  air  is.  We 
know  things  only  through  their  attributes.  We  define 
snow  by  its  attributes  of  whiteness,  crystalline  struc- 
ture, etc.;  and  thus  with  everything.  We  can  define 
mind  only  in  the  same  way,  by  naming  its  attributes, 
or  those  manifestations  that  distinguish  it  from  other 
things.  Such  a  definition  is  the  one  usually  given: 
Mind  is  that  ivhick  thinks,  feels,  and  wills.  It  may  be 
possible  to  get  nearer  to  the  truth  with  this  definition: 
Hindis  that  force  which  manifests  itself,  through  organi- 
zation of  nerve  substance,  in  knowing,  feeling,  zvilling. 
No  graver  objections  can  be  offered  against  this  than 
against  other  definitions  of  mind  ;  and  it  seems  to  sug- 
gest explanations  of  some  phenomena  that  no  other 
definition  does. 


MIND:  CONSCIOUSNESS.  37 

Force  is  the  one  thing  that  produces  motion,  and 
may  be  so  denned.     Mind  produces  motion  in  brain 
tissue,  nerve  fibers,  and  the  muscles :    hence      Mind  a 
mind  must  be  a  force,  or,  at  any  rate,  force      Force- 
must  be  an  attribute  of  mind.     If  this  line  of  thought 
be  true,  it  presents  a  scientific  basis  for  deducing  im- 
mortality.    Force,  like  matter,  can  never  be       Mind 
annihilated  ;   such,  at  least,  is  one  of  the  con-   immortal, 
elusions  to  be  drawn  from  the  modern  theory  of  the 
conservation  of   energy.      If  the   mind   be   a   form   of 
energy,  then,  it  cannot  suffendestruction. 

Alongside  of  the  definition  of  mind  just  given,  these 
others  following  are  placed,  some  by  way  of       other 
comparison,  some  by  way  of  contrast: —         Definitions. 

"  By  mind  we  mean  anything  and  everything  that  is 
comprehended  under  the  little  word  '  I  '."  —  Krohn. 

"  The  self  of  which  we  assert  mental  phenomena  is 
called  mind."  —  Baldwin. 

(This  is  an  illogical  definition,  since  it  uses  words 
that  are  synonymous  with  or  derived  from  the  word  to 
be  defined.) 

"  Mind  is  a  one  self-conscious  entity."  —  Laurie. 

"The  subject  of  all  the  states  of  consciousness  is  a 
real  unit-being  called  mind,  which  is  of  non-material 
nature,  and  acts  and  develops  according  to  laws  of  its 
own."  —  Ladd. 

"  Force  is  an  attribute  of  mind,  but  it  is  not  mind. 
Mind,  as  we  know  it,  is  embodied  spirit." — Munsell. 

(What  is  spirit  ?) 

"Mind,  like  force,  is  essentially  active." — Carpenter. 

The  most  striking  central  fact  of  mind  is  conscious- 
ness)    Bv  some  writers  consciousness  is  used  almost  as 


1   Consciousness  should  not  be  confounded  with  conscience. 


38  P S  YCHOL OGY  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

a  synonym  for  mind ;  by  others,  as  the  normal  condi- 
tion of  the  mind  when  awake  ;  by  others,  as  the  great 
Conscious-  basic  power  or  faculty  by  which  the  mind  is 
ness:  Kinds.  aware  0f  itself  and  its  own  acts,  and  by  which 
the  sense  of  personal  identity  is  preserved.  These 
different  uses  are  not  conflictive,  but  should  be  clearly 
discriminated  as  the  state  or  condition  of  being  con- 
scious, and  the  faculty  of  self-consciousness. 

As  a  state,  consciousness  may  be  denned  as  that  con- 
dition in  which  the  normal,  waking  mind  does  its  work. 
We  speak  of  one  who  has  fainted,  or  is  asleep,  or  who 
has  been  stunned  by  a  blow,  as  unconscious.  Self  con- 
sciousness may  be  defined  as  the  basic  facility  or  funda- 
mental power  of  the  mind  by  which  it  is  aware  of  its 
conditions  and  acts  as  being  its  own,  and  by  which  it 
knows  that  it  is  the  same  mind  all  the  time.  Hopkins 
gives  it  essentially  the  same  but  a  somewhat  briefer  defi- 
nition :  "  Consciousness  is  the  knowledge  by  the  mind 
of  itself  as  the  permanent  and  indivisible  subject  of  its 
own  operations."  I  have  not  been  able  to  discover  any 
definition  of  consciousness  that  is  clearer  or  in  any  way 
better  than  this.  Let  the  teacher  study  it  carefully,  and 
in  the  light  of  his  own  inner  self. 

Self-consciousness,  it  will  be  seen,  gives  us  the  sense 
oi  personal  identity,  the  certainty  that  I  am  the  same 

personal     being  I  was  when  I  went  to  sleep  last  night, 

identity.  or  when  I  started  to  school  years  ago.  My 
feelings,  my  thoughts,  may  have  changed  even  over 
night,  and  have  greatly  changed  since  childhood.  I 
look  at  things  now  as  a  man,  not  as  a  child  of  six,  but 
I  know  that  I  am  the  same  /  that  I  was  last  night  or 
that  I  was  at  six  years  of  age. 

The  most  essential  peculiarity  of  consciousness  is  its 


MIND:  CONSCIOUSNESS. 


39 


unity  and  continuity,  which  binds  all  the  complex  expe- 
riences of  sense  and  thought  into  one  extended  and 
ever-extending  series. 

We  could  not  possibly  have  an  idea  of  the  sameness 
of  material  things,  or  of  their  changes  in  form  or  place, 
were  it  not  for  the  sense  of  the  sameness  of  sense  of 
ourselves.  How  do  I  know  this  desk  is  the  identity. 
same  at  which  I  wrote  yesterday?  I  can  know  only 
through  the  knowledge  that  /  am  the  same  as  he  who 
wrote  upon  it  yesterday.  This  self-consciousness  is  the 
basis  of  individuality,  of  personal  character,  of  independ- 
ence of  being ;  and  even  in  the  child  it  should  be  sacredly 
respected  by  the  teacher. 

Consciousness  is  another  fact  which  the  materialist 
must,  to  be  consistent,  either  flatly  deny  or  silently 
ignore.  While  it  is  true  that  changes  in  the  blood  sup- 
ply of  the  brain,  or  in  the  substance  of  that  organ,  directly 
affect  consciousness,  yet  by  no  stretch  of  even  the  sci- 
entific imagination  can  consciousness  be  consistently 
conceived  of  as  identical  with  any  arrangement  or  organ- 
ization of  matter,  or  as  a  property  of  matter.  The  mat- 
ter of  the  brain,  as  a  part  of  the  body,  changes  completely 
in  a  relatively  short  time,  is  not  the  same  to-day  that  it 
was  yesterday  ;  but  normal  consciousness  is  the  same  all 
the  time,  — a  fixed  awareness  of  self-identity. 

Consciousness  may  well  be  compared  to  the  circle  of 
clear  white  light  thrown  on  the  screen  by  a  stereopti- 
con.     In  this  circle  must  appear  all  the  pic- 

.      r  i  .  ,  Conscious- 

tures  before  they  can  be  seen  and  enjoyed 


ness  com- 


The  senses  and  memory  may  be  compared  to     pared  to 
an  attendant  who  places  the  slides.    Like  other 
attendants,  they  sometimes  place  the  slides  poorly,  so 
that  the  pictures  fall  partly  in  the  dim  ring  of  light  th.it 


40 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


lies  outside  the  clear  spot,  and  we  are  not  able  fully  to 
recognize  them.  Though  this  is  wholly  figurative,  it  is 
none  the  less  true  that  into  consciousness  must  come 
every  percept  of  the  external  world,  every  concept,  every 
act  of  judgment,  or  imagination,  or  will,  before  these  can 
be  of  any  value  to  us.  We  can  knozv  nothing, /7r/  noth- 
ing, will  nothing,  outside  of  consciousness.  It  seems  to 
me  that  upon  consciousness  should  be  placed  our  moral 
responsibility  as  well  as  upon  the  will,  and  that  it  is 
nearer  the  truth  to  speak  of  a.  free  consciousness  than  of 
a  free  will.  We  are  not  in  any  sense  responsible  for 
acts  that  are  committed  unconsciously,  in  a  state  of  delir- 
ium, somnambulism,  or  hypnotism.  Will  is  responsible 
only  as  we  are  conscious  of  its  action. 

There  is  an  aggravated  or  perverted  form  of  the  sense 
of  self,  commonly  called  self  consciousness,  which  may 
Morbid  con-  manifest  itself  either  in  a  morbid  sensitiveness 
sciousness.  (shyness,  bashfulness,  timidity)  or  in  an  exag- 
gerated self-conceit.  Both  are  common  in  children  and 
young  people,  and  are  indeed  quite  frequently  found 
associated  together.  A  very  familiar  illustration  is  found 
in  the  feeling  of  young  people  that  they  are  the  cyno- 
sure of  all  critical  eyes  when  on  the  street,  in  a  railway 
car,  or  in  any  congregation  of  their  fellows. 

It  should  be  the  effort  of  every  teacher  to  relieve  and 
tone  down  these  feelings  of  timidity  and  of  self-conceit 
in  his  pupils,  but  not  to  eliminate  them.  Morbid  self- 
sensitiveness  may  be  made  to  ripen  into  modesty,  cor- 
rect deportment,  and  a  watchful  imitation  of  the  polite 
usages  of  society.  Abounding  self-conceit  may  be  toned 
into  a  sound  self-confidence,  a  faith  in  one's  self  that 
marks  the  leader  of  men  and  the  doer  of  things. 

One  other  form  of  self-sensitiveness  remains  to   be 


MIND  :  Ct  KY.Sc '/( )  (JSNESS. 


41 


noted,  which  those  people  suffer  from,  who  have  carried 
morbid  self-inspection  to  an  extreme,  examining  their 
motives,  analyzing  their  feelings,  wondering 

1  1      •  1  i«     ■  ^1    -i  Another 

about  their  morals  or  religion,  etc.     Children  Formofseif- 
of  either  sex,  of  nervous  temperament,  are    sensitive- 
subject  to  this  kind  of  torture,  for  it  is   tor- 
ture.    When  the  teacher  has   the   insight  to  discover 
this  condition  in  any  child,  he  should  be  very  tolerant 
and  sympathetic.     It  is  a  kind  of  disease. 

The  degree  of  intensity  of  normal  self-consciousness 
varies  greatly  in  different  individuals.  Many  people 
seem  to  have  but  a  limited  power  of  referring;   _ 

c  &     Conscious- 

their  acts  to  themselves  in  any  responsible  ness  and  Re- 
way.  By  both  word  and  deed  they  seem  to  sponsi  ' lty- 
confess  that  they  act  more  from  impulse  and  whim  than 
from  conscious  purpose.  Such  people  are  called  impul- 
sive, eccentric,  harum-scarum,  or  cranky,  according  to 
their  station  in  life.  They  have  an  air  of  irresponsi- 
bility about  them  that  unfits  them  for  positions  where 
purposive  work,  of  even  a  low  order,  is  to  be  done.  The 
world  has  need  of  people  who  let  their  consciousness  per- 
meate their  work.  The  idea  is  fully  expressed  by  the 
homely  phrase,  so  often  addressed  to  children,  "Think 
what  you  are  doing."  The  saying  of  the  new  education, 
that  "  we  learn  to  do  by  doing,"  is  true  in  its  best  sense 
only  when  the  doing  is  consciously  directed. 

A  study  of  the  phenomena  of  unconsciousness,  or 
rather  other  consciousness  ^such  as  trance,  cataleptic 
sleep,   hypnotism),   and  of  the   phenomena  D. 

tr  >        J  1  /»  Jr  Phenomena 

of  double  consciousness  (in  which  a  person      of  con- 

,  c  ...  ,,  ...        sciousness. 

changes  from  one  personality  to  another  with- 
out being  aware  of  the  change),  is  of  intense  interesl  to 
any  student  of  mind,  but  is  of  practical  value  mainly  to 


42 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


those  whose  business  it  is  to  have  the  care  and  healing 
of  mental  diseases. 

Dr.  Maudsley  says,  "  There  is  not  an  inconsistency 
or  contradiction  of  which  human  nature  is  not  capable; 
not  a  folly  of  belief  or  an  absurdity  of  practice  which 
has  not  been  cherished  by  some  people  or  other  at  some 
period  or  other  of  human  history."  There  is  no  trick 
too  fantastic  for  consciousness  to  play. 

As  it  is  the  business  of  the  observer  of  nature  to 
classify  what  he  sees,  and  to  bring  all  observed  phe- 
nomena into  a  few  groups,  so  it  is  the  busi- 

Mental  &  r    • 

Activities  ness  of  the  student  of  mind  to  classify  its 
classified,  manifestations,  and  put  those  of  similar  kinds 
into  the  same  class.  Any  one,  however  unskilled  in  this 
sort  of  investigation,  can,  upon  a  slight  examination  of 
the  workings  of  his  own  mind,  readily  discover  three 
classes  of  activities.  He  thinks  and  knows  and  im- 
agines; he  feels  love  and  fear  and  shame  and  joy;  and 
he  wills  to  do  this  or  that  thing.  The  powers  of  the 
mind  by  which  these  various  acts  are  performed  are 
conveniently  classified  under  the  intellect,  sensibilities 
or  feelings,  and  the  will.  This  classification  receives 
the  sanction  and  approval  of  a  long  line  of  investi- 
gators, and  any  attempt  to  change  it  must  inevitably 
result  in  the  coining  of  new  terms  that  are  much  less 
apt  and  expressive.  Even  the  materialistic  psycholo- 
gists, who  are  averse  to  any  classification  that  intro- 
duces the  term  faculties,  may  fall  into  the  use  of  it 
when  a  little  off  their  guard. 

But  any  classification  of  mental  phenomena  that 
stops  with  an  enumeration  of  the  faculties  of  the  mind 
is  incomplete,  since  it  omits  any  proper  grouping  and 
description  of  the  operations  and  processes  that  these 


MWD:  CONSCIOUSNESS.  4^ 

faculties  arc  constantly  engaged  in  during  our-normal 
waking  hours.  These  operations  and  processes  will  be 
described  and  analyzed  later  ;  and  it  is  only  necessary 
to  refer  to  them  here  as  acquisition,  or  the  collecting 
of  the  material  for  mental  growth  ;  assimilation,  or  the 
elaboration  of  this  material,  —  the  organiza-  operations 
tion  of  it  into  one's  own  body  of  knowledge  of  the  Mind, 
and  character;  and  reproduction,  or  the  putting-forth  of 
the  elaborated  thought  so  that  it  may  affect  other  minds. 

Applications  to  Teaching. 

The  deductions  of  value  to  the  teacher  that  may  be 
drawn  from  this  chapter  can  be  summarized  as  follows:  — 

i.  The  mind,  as  has  been  seen,  needs  nourishment, 
use,  and  rest,  in  order  to  its  sound  growth.  The 
teacher,  then,  should  see  to  it  that  such  exercises  be 
given  to  the  child  as  will  nourish  the  mind  at  the  differ- 
ent stages  of  its  development.  It  is  imperative  that  the 
lessons  be  adapted  to  the  power  of  the  child  to  assimi- 
late ;  that  is,  to  understand.  Stuffing  the  child's  memory 
with  facts  he  cannot  understand  is  worse  than  stuffing 
his  stomach  with  food  he  cannot  digest. 

2.  It  is  the  natural  tendency  of  every  faculty  of  the 
mind,  as  it  is  of  every  organ  of  the  body,  to  do  the 
work  for  which  it  is  fitted  in  such  way  as  to  give  pleas- 
ure. Pleasure  in  doing  is  a  law  of  both  mind  and  body  ; 
and  growth  from  use  is  a  law  of  equal  validity.  If  the 
child  does  not  like  to  learn,  —  to  learn  something,  for 
all  children  do  not  like  to  learn  the  same  things,  — the 
teacher  should  carefully  examine  his  methods  of  teach- 
ing to  discover  why,  before  he  accuses  the  child  of  a 
perverse  desire  for  ignorance.     Also  from  this  law  of 


44 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


use  the  teacher  should  learn  the  lesson  that  it  is  what 
the  child  does  for  himself  that  makes  for  his  growth. 
The  teacher  might  as  well  eat  the  child's  food  for  him 
as  to  do  his  thinking  for  him. 

3.  The  teacher  should  put  into  effect  the  law  of  rest 
by  providing  short  lessons  and  other  mental  exercises, 
and  frequent  intermissions  for  relaxation  and  play.  It 
is  wrong,  both  physiologically  and  pedagogically,  to  try 
to  teach  a  tired  child. 

4.  As  the  digestive  processes  are  stimulated  by  the 
proper  cooking  and  seasoning  of  the  food,  so  the  pro- 
cesses of  mental  assimilation  may  be  stimulated  by  the 
proper  preparation  and  presentation  of  thought  material 
by  the  teacher.  There  is  a  way  to  teach  so  that  every 
lesson  and  every  exercise  shall  be  flavored  with  interest, 
and  the  teacher  who  finds  out  this  way  is  the  one  whose 
pupils  through  all  their  lives  will  call  him  blessed. 

5.  The  teacher  must  constantly  strive  to  secure  the 
conscious,  self-directed  effort  of  the  pupil ;  for  work 
that  is  consciously  done  with  a  purposive  effort  is  the 
only  kind  that  is  worth  anything.  The  best  way  to 
secure  this  kind  of  work  is  sympathetically  to  let  the 
child  understand  the  end  for  which  he  is  working,  and 
that  the  teacher  is  working  with  him  to  that  end. 
This  end  toward  which  the  effort  is  to  be  directed  must 
be  set  before  the  child  or  youth  in  such  form  as  will 
make  it  attractive  in  itself,  and  will  arouse  a  compelling 
interest.  The  teacher  should  often  show  the  relation 
of  each  study  or  of  each  lesson  to  practical  everyday 
affairs,  and  the  relations  of  different  studies  to  one  an- 
other. This  will  prevent  the  formal,  routine  work  that 
is  done  so  often  while  the  higher  consciousness  of  the 
pupil  is  busy  with  other  things. 


MIND  :  ■  C(  WS(  '10 1  SXF.SS.  45 

Consciousness  below  Max. 

Modern  psychological  methods  have  opened  up  anew 
the  interesting  inquiry  whether  the  lower  animals  have 
mind.  No  intelligent  observer  of  the  acts  Animal 
and  habits  of  animals  can  doubt  that  they  Mind- 
afford  all  the  indications  of  mind  that  man  exhibits. 
They  can  attend,  and  form  habits;  can  feel  fear,  joy, 
shame;  can  reason  in  some  degree;  and  can  will.  It 
remains  to  be  determined  whether  animals  have  a  sense 
of  guilt  following  upon  wrong  doing,  and  a  sense  of 
pleasure  after  right  doing;  and  whether  they  have  real 
self-consciousness.  Those  wrho  are  interested  in  mind  as 
mind  can  gain  much  from  a  study  of  its  manifestations 
in  the  lower  animals. 

It  is  even  claimed  by  some  that  a  lower  form  of  con- 
sciousness, not  rising  into  self-consciousness,  marks  the 
lowest  life  forms.  If  that  be  true,  then  there  is  a  dim 
consciousness  in  the  oyster,  in  plants,  in  the  monad. 
When  it  comes  to  proof  of  such  possibilities,  there 
is  more  to  be   found  in  favor  than  against.    „  . 

0  Universal 

There  could  be   no  grander   demonstration    conscious- 
on  the  part  of  science  than   to  show  that 
there  is  a  universal  consciousness  working  everywhere, 
animating    and    transforming    lower    life     forms    into 
higher,  manifesting  itself  as  the  divine  purpose. 


46 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


CHAPTER  V. 

conditions  of  mental  activity. 

Consciousness. 

THERE  are  certain  physical  conditions  of  the  mind's 
activity  —  brain  nutrition,  brain  rest,  etc.  —  which  have 
already  been  touched  upon.  It  is  now  proposed  to 
discuss  the  three  fundamental  psychical  conditions  of 
the  mind's  best  activity.  Consciousness,  attention, 
and  habit  occupy  this  chapter  together,  although  they 
have  nothing  in  common  except  the  fact  of  being  the 
psychical  conditions  in  which  the  mind  does  its  most 
effective  work.  To  accomplish  a  given  task  in  the 
shortest  time,  with  the  least  waste  of  energy,  and  with 
the  best  results,  the  mind  must  be  conscious,  attentive, 
and  habituated  to  the  kind  of  activity  demanded  by 
the  work  to  be  done.  It  is  not  forgotten  that  we  may 
do  many  things  semiconsciously,  or  even  unconsciously ; 
and  that  we  may  do  many  things  well  which  we  have 
not  done  before,  and  so  could  not  be  in  the  habit  of 
doing;  but  it  is  none  the  less  true  that  we  must  do  a 
thing  many  times  consciously  and  attentively,  before  we 
can  do  that  or  similar  things  unconsciously  and  auto- 
matically. 

The  general  statements  just  made  find  ample,  spe- 
cific illustration  in  many  familiar  facts.  The  bicyclist 
had  to  be  intensely  conscious  of  what  he  was  doing, 
and    to  give   it    exclusive   attention,  for   a   longer   or 


CONDITIONS  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY. 


47 


shorter  time,  before  he  could  ride  as  automatically  as 
he  walks.  A  skilled  mechanic  will  learn  the  use  of  a 
new  tool  much  more  quickly  than  a  teacher,  because 
the  mechanic  is  habituated  to  handling  tools,  while  the 
teacher  is  not. 

It  is  worth  noting,  however,  that  intense  ^^/"-con- 
sciousness is  not  favorable  to  the  best  activity.  If  the 
child  is  too  conscious  of  the  way  in  which  he  forms 
each  letter,  after  he  has  once  learned  to  write,  his  work 
will  be  neither  so  rapid  nor  so  good  as  if  he  is  simply 
conscious  that  he  is  writing,  and  wants  to  write  well. 

Attention. 

Attention  is  that  condition  of  the  mind  in  which  the 
energy  of  one  or  more  faculties  is  directed  upon  an  object 
of  sense  or  of  thought.  The  word  is  also  used  to  name 
the  act  of  attending.  Attention  is  often  miscalled  a 
faculty ;  but  it  is  plain  that  it  is  not,  since  attention 
does  nothing,  but  is  only  a  quickened  or  energized 
state  of  one  or  more  faculties. 

There  are  three  kinds  of  attention,  —  vohintary,  in- 
voluntary, and  expectant,  —  and  each  is  worth     Kinds  of 
the  teacher's  careful  study.  Attention. 

Voluntary  attention  is  that  kind  in  which  the  will 
directs  the  faculties  upon  some  thing  to  be  considered. 

The  word  attention  means  literally  a  stretchiug-to. 
The  will  stretches  the  mind  forth  to  the  thing  to  be 
seen,  or  done,  or  thought  upon.  In  this  phase  of  atten- 
tion, the  will  is  the  faculty  which  brings  about  the  con- 
dition. The  will  may  not  only  arouse  the  faculties  from 
an  indifferent  or  idle  condition,  and  direct  them  upon 
some  object,  but  it  may  draw  them  off  from  the  con- 
sideration of  one  thing  to  put  them  at  work  upon  an- 


48  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED UCA  TTON. 

other.  We  may  cease  attending  to  a  recitation  in  order 
to  discipline  the  room  ;  we  may  withdraw  our  observa- 
tion from  a  beautiful  sunset,  and  attend  to  the  lesson 
to  be  studied. 

Involuntary  attention  is  that  kind  in  which  the  mind 
is  drawn  by  interest  to  the  consideration  of  something. 
We  involuntarily  attend  to  anything  which  excites  our 
interest  or  curiosity.  An  unusual  sight  or  noise  is  sure 
to  be  attended  to.  Whatever  is  curious,  new,  or  in  any 
way  attractive,  is  certain  to  be  an  object  of  attention. 
Indeed,  the  word  attractive  is,  in  its  literal  meaning,  the 
correlative  of  attention,  for  it  means  to  drazu  to.  An 
attractive  thing  draws  the  mind  to  a  consideration  of 
it.  This  fact  is  of  the  highest  value  to  the  teacher. 
Everything  about  the  school  yard,  the  house,  the  room, 
the  recitation,  —  every  exercise,  in  fact,  should  be  made 
as  attractive  as  possible. 

Children,  and,  for  the  matter  of  that,  many  adults, 
cannot  give  voluntary  attention   for  any  considerable 

children's    length  of  time.     The  power  to  hold  the  mind 

Attention  steadily  to  a  line  of  work  is  characteristic  only 
ary'  of  the  most  highly  trained  and  disciplined 
intelligences,  and  has  by  some  been  said  to  be  genius. 
The  reader  may  look  into  his  own  experience,  or  try 
the  experiment  of  keeping  his  mind  closely  for  even  a 
half  hour  to  the  consideration  of  something  not  espe- 
cially interesting,  and  he  will  readily  see  how  difficult 
it  is  to  compel  his  attention  to  uninteresting  things.  It 
is  worse  than  useless  to  expect  children  to  attend  to 
what  lacks  interest  for  them,  or  fails  to  arouse  their  curi- 
Object      osity.     In  this  fact  is  found  the  truest  reason 

Teaching,  [ox  object  teaching.  It  may  be  stated  thus: 
there  can  be  no  effective  teaching  without  the  attention 


CONDITIONS  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY.  49 

of  the  pupils  ;  the  child  cannot  attend  unless  interested ; 
and  he  will  not  be  interested  in  abstractions,  but  in  things 
that  he  can  see  and  handle.  Stated  more  concisely,  the 
argument  is  this:  no  good  teaching  without  attention ; 
no  attention  without  interest ;  no  interest  without  ob- 
jects. And  the  argument  holds  good  for  all  grades  of 
students,  from  the  kindergarten  to  the  university.  The 
university  of  to-day  has  "  object  lessons  "  in  almost  every 
department  of  study,  as  witness  the  splendidly  equipped 
laboratories,  museums,  maps,  pictures,  etc.,  that  are  in 
daily  use.  No  teacher  of  a  country  school  should  for  a 
moment  think  that  he  can  teach  well  without  illustra- 
tive material,  any  more  than  the  professor  of  chemistry 
can  without  a  laboratory.  It  is  only  necessary  to  remem- 
ber that  the  apparatus  must  be  adapted  to  the  pupil's 
ability  and  advancement,  and  to  the  subject  of  instruc- 
tion. 

It  is  questionable,  indeed,  whether  any  one,  adult  or 
child,  trained  or  untrained,  can  attend  unless  interest  is 
the  mainspring  of  the  effort.     We  set  our-    „  ...    .. 

r        t>  All  Attention 

selves  often  to  the  accomplishment  of  dis-  due  to 
agreeable  tasks,  to  the  doing  of  things  we  are 
not  interested  in,  but  not  unless  by  doing  these  things 
we  can  attain  some  desired  end,  or  can  eventually  gain 
some  object  of  interest.  The  student  plods  through 
many  a  dull  and  tasteless  task  because  by  doing  so  he 
may  secure  some  coveted  knowledge  or  increased  power 
of  thought.  No  amount  of  will  can  make  a  successful 
merchant  out  of  a  man  who  is  not  interested  _  „ 

Interest  the 

in  buying  and  selling,  who  is  not  attracted     Basis  of 
by  the  methods  of  business ;  nor  can  a  man     Succ< 
who  is  interested  only  in  prices  and  the  state  of  the 
market  attain  success  in  a  liberal  profession.     Interest 
Roark  Psych. —  4 


5o 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION 


must  produce  attention,  and  upon  attention  depends 
success  in  any  work. 

Teaching  is  almost  wholly  lost  upon  inattentive 
classes.  Arouse,  stimulate,  attract  the  attention  of 
pupils,  and  teaching  is  easy.  Do  not  try  to  compel 
attention  :  the  kind  of  attention  pupils  give  through 
compulsion  is  of  but  little  value,  except  as  it  holds 
them  to  a  task  long  enough  for  the  teacher  to  convince 
them  of  its  attractiveness  and  worth. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  mind  can  attend  to 
more  than  one  object  at  a  time.     To  sing  and  play  an 

Divided  accompaniment,  to  use  a  complicated  ma- 
Attention.  chmej  to  teach  a  class  and  observe  the  order 
of  the  room,  —  all  these,  and  thousands  of  other  things 
we  do  every  day,  necessitate  keeping  the  mind  busy 
with  several  things  at  once.  It  is  said  that  Caesar  could 
dictate  seven  letters  at  once.  It  has  been  asserted  that 
expert  stenographers  can  with  one  hand  take  down  a 
speech  in  shorthand,  and  with  the  other  write  out  the 
stenographic  copy  into  longhand. 

But  it  is  also  true  that  the  intensity  of  attention 
diminishes  with  the  number  and  variety  of  objects 
attended  to.  To  bring  about  the  most  effective  con- 
centration of  thought,  the  field  of  mental  vision  must 
be  narrowed  as  much  as  possible,  and  the  objects  con- 
sidered must  be  related. 

The  teacher  should  require  but  few  things  to  be  done 
or  studied  together,  and  those  things  should  have  an 
evident  and  simple  relationship.  A  subject  should  be 
presented  to  a  class  connectedly.,  so  that  attention  may 
not  be  diffused  and  weakened. 

The  power  to  attend  can  be  readily  cultivated  by 
persistent  practice.     It  vivifies  consciousness,  intensi- 


CONDITIONS  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY. 


51 


fies  impressions,  fixes  objects  in  memory,  and  makes 
all  mental  and  physical  work  effective.  Anything  that 
strengthens  will  gives   increased   power  to 

00  r  Cultivation 

attend,  to   hold  the  mind  at   work  upon  a  of  the  Power 
task  with  its  faculties  focused.     The  power    toattend- 
of  attention  is  easily  weakened  by  overmuch  reading 
of  newspapers,  light  Nt&at^ure,  and  flashy  fiction. 

Teachers  will  find  the  subjoined  suggestions  of  some 
value  in  securing  and  holding  the  attention  of  classes. 

1.  Every  new  subject  should,  when  possible,  be  intro- 
duced objectively.  Let  there  be  something  to  see,  or 
hear,  ox  feel, —  something  besides  mere  zaords. 

2.  Be  careful  to  have  the  pupil's  eyes  upon  your  face 
or  upon  the  objects  you  are  using. 

3.  Do  not  try  to  present  many  new  ideas  in  any  given 
exercise.  "  The  intensity  of  attention  is  inversely  as  its 
ex  tensity."'     Don't  "  scatter." 

4.  Speak  in  a  low  tone,  clearly,  and  distinctly,  and  let 
the  pupils  understand  that  you  will  rarely  repeat  ques- 
tions or  statements. 

5.  Ask  the  question  first  ;  then  call  the  name  of  the 
pupil  who  is  to  answer. 

6.  Ask  your  questions  promptly,  and  require  prompt 
answers. 

7.  Study  ways  of  presenting  subjects  and  of  asking 
questions  so  as  to  arouse  the  curiosity  of  the  pupils. 

8.  Surprise  the  inattentive  pupil  by  an  unexpected 
question. 

9.  Abolish  routine  questioning,  —  round  the  class  from 
head  to  foot.  Let  every  pupil  understand  that  he  is 
liable  to  be  called  on  at  any  time  to  answer  any  ques- 
tion, or  to  criticise  or  supplement  the  answer  of  an- 
other pupil. 


52  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

10.  Carefully  vary  your  methods  of  conducting  a 
recitation. 

11.  Attention  uses  up  brain  cells  rapidly.  Let  all 
exercises  be  brief. 

12.  Above  all,  be  interested  yourself,  and  show  that 
you  are. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  no  teacher  can 
successfully  apply  these  suggestions  if  the  text-book  is 
used  in  "  hearing  a  lesson."  Put  the  text-book  aside, 
and  make  your  own  questions. 

There  is  another  kind  of  attention  known  as  expec- 
tant attention,  which  may  be  defined  as  that  condition 

Expectant    !;i  which  t/ic  mind  dwells  upon  something  that 

Attention,  js  expected,  and  that  is  dreaded  or  desired. 
Carpenter,  who  gives  this  phase  of  attention  a  thorough 
and  most  interesting  discussion,  defines  it  as  a  condition 
in  which  the  "whole  mind  is  possessed  with  the  idea 
that  a  certain  action  will  take  place,  and  is  eagerly 
directed  towards  the  indications  of  its  occurrence." 

By  fixing  the  attention  with  a  dreading  expectancy 
upon  bodily  symptoms,  they  may  be  greatly  exagger- 

„  .    ated,  and  disease  may  even  be  induced  in  a 

Kxpectant  J 

Attention    part  where  none  existed  before.     Such  is  the 

and  Disease.    •     ,.  11-  e  .     i 

intimate  and  peculiar  connection  of  mental 
states  with  physical  states,  that  any  part  of  the  body  — 
the  foot,  the  head,  a  tooth,  the  stomach  —  will  respond 
to  a  fixed  expectancy  that  pain  will  be  felt  in  that  organ. 
Numerous  well-authenticated  cases  are  on  record  in 
which  serious  changes  in  the  tissue,  or  in  the  blood  sup- 
ply, or  in  the  working  of  an  organ,  have  been  brought 
about  by  expectant  attention.  Advertisers  of  patent 
medicines  take  advantage  of  these  facts,  and  by  describ- 
ing the  symptoms  of  disease  easily  succeed  in  getting 


CONDITIONS  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY. 


53 


nervous  people,  who  think  overmuch  of  their  physical 
condition,  to  imagine  that  they  have  many  of  the  ills 
that  flesh  is  heir  to.  Reputable  physicians  rely  greatly 
upon  hopeful  expectant  attention  to  aid  their  medicine 
in  the  rapid  and  effective  cure  of  patients.  Expectant 
attention,  according  as  it  is  hopeful  or  the  reverse,  is  a 
potent  factor  for  good  or  ill  in  the  treatment  of  all  ner- 
vous diseases.  Even  serious  organic  or  constitutional 
disease  has  been  absolutely  cured  solely  through  the 
positive  conviction  in  the  mind  of  the  sufferer  that  he 
would  get  well  as  the  result  of  something  done  for  him. 
Such  cures  of  scrofula  by  the  "  King's  touch  "  in  Eng- 
land are  too  well  attested  to  be  doubted  ;  and  the  effi- 
cacy of  "bread  pills"  is  well  known. 

Every  one  who  has  lived  in  the  Southern  States,  and 
has  used  his  opportunities  to  gain  information  upon 
the  subject,  is  aware  of  the  not  infrequent  illness  or 
death  of  negroes  simply  from  the  conviction  that  they 
had  been  "  conjured."  Many  a  boy  will  attest  the 
fact  —  for  it  is  a  fact  —  that  warts  have  been  taken  off 
his  hands  by  his  cutting  as  many  notches  in  a  persim- 
mon tree  as  he  had  warts.  As  the  notches  heal,  the 
warts  disappear.  There  is  a  host  of  neighborhood 
superstitions  whose  foundation  is  in  expectant  atten- 
tion.    Such   are   the   beliefs   in   the   various 

...  ,     mi     i        1       •  i  i  Expectant 

signs  of  luck  and   ill  luck,  in  the  many  de-    Attention 
vices  for  "readine:  the  future,"  and  in   the   and  SuPer- 

ii  i       i       •     •  i       •  stition. 

efficacy  of  hazel  forks  and  divining  rods  in 
locating  streams  of  water  or  mineral  veins  beneath  the 
surface  of  the  ground.  Hardly  any  neighborhood  is 
without  its  "water  witch,"  who,  on  occasion,  gravely 
takes  a  hazel  fork,  grasping  the  end  of  one  prong  in  each 
hand,  and  walks  solemnly  back  and  forth  over  a  given 


54 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


area  to  determine,  by  the  "dipping"  of  the  fork,  where 
a  well  may  be  sunk,  and  even  how  deep  it  will  need  to  be ! 

The  explanation  of  this  sort  of  "  witchery"  is  simple. 
No  matter  how  thoroughly  honest  the  man  may  be,  he 
has  some  notion,  from  the  "  lay  of  the  land,"  where 
water  may  be  found  by  digging.  Having  faith  in  his 
hazel  fork,  as  he  has,  he  expects  it  to  turn  at  the  point 
where  he  thinks  water  may  be  found,  and  this  expectancy 
is  all  that  is  needed  to  start  the  muscular  impulse  that 
will  throw  the  "teetering"  fork  over,  in  spite  of  his 
honest  attempts  to  hold  it.  In  firmly  grasping  the 
small,  limber  ends  of  a  forked  twig,  the  spasmodic  con- 
tractions of  the  strained  muscles  soon  draw  his  hands 
ever  so  slightly  apart  or  together,  and  thus  throw  the 
point  of  the  top-heavy  fork  downward.  If  "  water 
witches  "  could  work  as  well  blindfolded  as  with  their 
eyes  open,  sceptics  might  have  more  faith  in  their 
performances. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  many,  if  not  all, 
of  the  phenomena  of  "table  tilting,"  "  planchette  writ- 
ing," etc.,  may  be  explained  in  the  same  way.  It  is  a 
well-known  fact  that  "sceptics"  —  that  is,  those  who  do 
not  have  the  requisite  expectancy — fail  to  get  results 
from  table  or  planchette.  Many  a  "  humorist  "  receives 
the  reward  of  laughter  because  he  is  advertised  as  hu- 
morous;  and  people  come  to  hear  him,  expecting  to 
laugh. 

Some  knowledge  of  the  many  and  peculiar  results  of 

expectant  attention  opens  for  the  teacher  a  wide  field 

.of  inestimable  usefulness.     Children  are  spe- 

Expectant  l 

Attention  in  cially  liable  to  the  evil  or  good  effects  of  an 

e   c  00  '   expectant  mental  state.     If  the  teacher  can 

only  arouse  the  expectancy  of  the  pupils  as  a  body  that 


CONDITIONS  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY.  55 

the  school  will  be  the  best,  that  good  order  will  prevail, 
that  the  truth  will  be  told  on  playground  and  in  class, 
and  of  each  individual  pupil  that  his  work  will  be  pleas- 
ant and  his  real  difficulties  few,  that  teacher  will  have 
prime  results  from  the  start. 

No  description  of  a  peculiar  disease  or  its  symptoms, 
no  account  of  unusual  crimes  or  accidents,  should  be 
told  or  read  in  the  hearing  of  children.  Dr.  Van  Norden 
says,  "  It  should  be  a  fixed  habit  to  divert  attention 
from  personal  pain,  from  the  foul,  morbid,  and  horrible, 
and  to  keep  the  mind  sweet  and  clean,  hopeful  and 
aspiring,  stored  only  with  facts  and  fancies  of  the  true, 
the  beautiful,  and  the  good."  And  since  every  teacher 
should  be,  so  far  as  in  him  lies,  a  revealcr  of  truth  not 
only  to  his  pupils,  but  to  the  community  in  which  he 
works,  he  should  discreetly  use  every  opportunity  to 
point  out  and  prove  the  absurdity  of  popular  supersti- 
tions, based  on  expectant  attention  mixed  with  ready 
credulity  and  untrained  observation. 

Habit. 

Habit  is  that  condition  of  the  mind  or  body  which  is 
manifested  in  the  tendency  to  unconscious  repetition  of 
acts  or  states.  For  example,  we  say  of  one  that  he- 
has  a  habit  of  eating  too  rapidly ;  of  another,  he  has  a 
habit  of  telling  the  truth.  Acts  or  states  that  are  now 
habitual  may  once  have  been  partly  or  wholly  under 
control  of  the  will.  It  is  possible,  for  instance,  that 
the  action  of  the  heart,  now  wholly  automatic  in  man 
and  the  higher  animals,  may  have  been,  in  preceding- 
life  forms,  consciously  directed.     Such  auto- 

1  ■  r        Instinct. 

matic  actions  may  be  called  organic  or  life 

habits.     What   are  called  the  instincts  of  animals  are 


56 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


race  habits, — -habits  acquired  through  the  lifetime  of  a 
species,  or  perhaps  an  order,  instead  of  during  the  life 
of  the  individual.  Man,  too,  has  his  instincts  as  well 
as  his  individual  habits.  The  characteristic  actions  of 
animals  are  probably  for  the  most  part  due  to  instinct ; 
but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  some  of  their  actions 
are  rational.     This  distinction  may  be  drawn 

Difference  .  .  .  . 

between     between  instinct  and  reason :  instinct  enables 
instinct  and  j|-s  possessor  to  adapt  himself  to  conditions 

Reason. 

that  arose  in  the  history  of  the  race ;  reason 
enables  its  possessor  to  adapt  himself  to  conditions 
that  arise  in  the  experience  of  the  individual.  If  this 
is  a  true  distinction,  then  many  animals  have  the  rational 
faculty. 

Habit   is  the  result  of  repetition.     Doing  a  thing  a 

certain   way   once  makes  it  easier  to  do  it  that  way 

Habit      a  second  time,  and  each  repetition  makes  the 

formed  by    thing  easier  to  do.     If  a  nerve  carries  a  cer- 

Repetition.     .     •        ,   •       ,        c     •  .  .  ,  ... 

tain  kind  ot  impression  inward  once,  it  is 
easier  for  that  kind  of  impression  to  travel  along  that 
nerve  again  than  to  follow  a  new  nerve  path.  Also,  if 
a  thought  impulse  moves  outward  along  certain  nerves, 
and  is  expressed  in  the  action  of  certain  muscles,  these 
nerves  will  more  readily  carry,  and  the  same  muscles 
will  more  easily  express,  the  same  kind  of  thought  im- 
pulse a  second  time,  than  will  other  nerves  and  muscles. 
This  is  an  illustration  of  what  is  called  the  law  of 
least  resistance.  Any  body  or  any  force  moves  in  the 
path  that  offers  the  least  obstruction  to  its  passage. 
The  formation  of  lines  of  habit  in  the  nerves  and 
muscles,  brain  and  mind,  bears  a  very  real  resemblance 
to  the  work  of  rivers  in  forming  their  channels.  Let 
alone,  the  water  will   find  and   use  the  line  of  least  re- 


CONDITIONS  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY. 


57 


sistancc  ;  curbed  and  directed,  it  can  be  forced  to  make 
channels  where  it  would  not  naturally  run.  Thought 
impulses,  left  to  themselves,  will  form  paths  in  brain 
and  nerve,  and  become  habitual  in  expression  by  cer- 
tain outward  acts.  Controlled  and  directed  by  the 
will,  these  thought  impulses  may  be  made  to  originate 
nerve  tracks,  or  to  change  those  already  formed,  and 
to  find  outward  expression  in  better  forms  of  doing. 

Habits  are  physical,  intellectual,  and  moral,    classes  of 
Further  illustration  of  the  formation  of  habit      Habits- 
will  be  given  in  the  discussion  of  each  of  these  kinds. 

Walking  is  a  physical  habit.  The  child's  first  at- 
tempts to  walk  require  his  closest  attention,  the  most 
intense  consciousness,  and  the  strongest  application  of 
his  will.  When  the  various  will  impulses  have  found 
the  nerve  paths  that  lead  most  readily  to  the  muscles 
of  the  lower  limbs,  and  the  muscular  actions  have  be- 
come correlated,  then  walking  ceases  to  make  demands 
upon  consciousness,  and  becomes  an  unconscious,  auto- 
matic process,  wholly  directed,  under  all  ordinary  con- 
ditions, by  the  reflex  nerve  centers.  How  conscious 
volitional  action  passes  over  into  unconscious  automatic 
action,  is  illustrated  in  learning  to  swim,  to  ride  a  bicycle, 
to  perform  any  feat  of  athletic  skill. 

Children  have  to  learn  all  those  muscular  movements 
which  in  the  adult  seem  automatic.  The  infant  can 
make  no  coordinated  movements,  except  pos-  Muscular 
sibly  a  few  that  are  the  result  of  race  habit,  Movement. 
or  instinct.  The  child  must  learn  to  hold  objects,  to 
pick  them  up,  to  carry  his  hand  to  his  mouth,  to  turn 
his  eyes  or  his  head,  to  crawl,  to  stand,  to  walk,  to  talk. 
The  nerve  tracks  along  which  travel  the  impulses  that 
produce  these  acts  are  all  formed  in  the  nerve  wilder- 


53 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


ness  by  the  constant  effort  of  the  child  between  birth 
and  two  years  of  age.  Of  course,  the  lines  which  these 
motor  paths  must  follow  have  been  determined  by  no 
one  dares  say  how  many  centuries  of  development ;  but 
each  child  of  the  race  must  learn  anew  how  to  drive  the 
impulses  along  these  established  lines,  and  make  the 
road  smooth  from  will  to  muscle.  The  motor  nerves 
run  from  brain  to  arm  or  leg,  in  the  infant  as  directly 
as  in  the  man;  but  they  are  like  roads  that  have  been 
carefully  surveyed  and  marked  out,  but  that  are  not  yet 
opened  for  travel.  It  takes  a  deal  of  labor  to  open 
them ;  and  any  one  who  takes  the  pains  to  watch  the 
effort  of  a  child  three  months  old  to  carry  his  rubber 
ring  to  his  mouth,  even  after  it  has  been  put  into  his 
hand,  will  appreciate  the  comparison. 

Observing  closely,  thinking  clearly  and  quickly,  re- 
membering accurately  and  readily,  are  examples  of  good 
intellectual  intellectual  habits.    To  these  should  be  added 

Habits,  the  habit  of  accurate  statement.  (Inaccurate 
statement  is  not  necessarily  lying.  The  motive  that  un- 
derlies inaccuracy  of  statement  determines  whether  it 
is  lying  or  intellectual  slouchiness.)  Intellectual  habits, 
like  physical  ones,  are  the  results  of  frequent  repetition. 

The  habits  just  named,  in  the  broadest  application, 
mark  only  the  most  generously  endowed  and  carefully 
trained  minds.  A  habit  of  close  observation  is  a  mis- 
leading phrase,  unless  somewhat  narrowly  modified.  A 
man  may  be  a  close  observer  of  geological  phenomena 
and  at  the  same  time  almost  blind  to  the  most  interest- 
ing peculiarities  of  plants  and  animals.  The  scientist 
(of  a  sort)  may  keenly  observe  the  facts  of  biology,  and 
not  even  see  the  blending  colors  of  sky  and  rock  and 
wood  and   field  ;    while   the   artist    would  observe  the 


CONDITIONS  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY.  59 

shifting  color  scenes,  and  have  no  eye  for  the  inner 
structural  differences  of  plants  and  animals.  All  this  is 
equally  true  of  habits  of  remembering,  thinking,  will- 
ing. A  student  may  form  a  habit  of  thinking  clearly 
and  quickly  in  arithmetic,  while  he  can  think  in  gram- 
mar or  remember  in  geography  only  with  difficulty. 
It  is  granted  that  much  of  these  differences  of  ability  is 
due  to  natural  aptitude  or  inaptitude,  but  even  more 
is  due  to  habit.  The  morality  of  a  habit  is  to  be  sought 
in  the  motives  that  originated  it  or  cause  its  continuance. 
Constant,  careless  disregard  of  known  natural  Moral 
laws,  resulting  in  disease,  is  morally  wrong ;  Habits, 
while  ignorant  transgression  of  these  laws  is  not,  so  long 
as  the  transgressor  is  not  responsible  for  his  ignorance. 
The  same  may  be  said,  within  certain  limits,  of  the  trans- 
gression of  moral  law.  The  habit  of  inaccuracy  is  a 
wretched  one,  but  it  is  not  Immoral  except  when  it  is 
formed  or  kept  up  from  a  desire  to  deceive  others.  In 
such  a  case  an  inaccurate  statement  is  a  lie. 

Moral  habits  may  all  be  summed  up  under  three  heads, 
—  hygienic  observance,  veracity  and  honesty.  Each  of 
these  is  to  be  understood  in  its  broadest  sense.  To  use 
tobacco,  knowing  its  effects,  is  hygienically  immoral; 
to  be  inaccurate  about  anything,  with  evil  intent,  is  to 
lie;  to  take,  legally  or  illegally,  any  kind  of  property 
of  others,  is  theft ;  to  be  of  unchaste  habits  is  to  violate 
the  laws  of  hygiene,  truth,  and  honesty.  Telling  truth 
once  or  lying  once  does  not  form  a  habit ;  but  each  time 
either  is  done,  the  corresponding  habit  becomes  more 
firmly  fixed. 

Dr.  Maudsley  sums  up  the  value  of  habit  when  he 
says,  "We  are  the  useful  machines  we  are  in  the  work 
of  life,  only  because  the  great  majority  of  our  ordinary 


60  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED UCA  TIOM. 

acts  and  judgments  have  been  rendered  automatic  and 
unconscious.      Virtue  itself  is  not  safely  lodged  until 

value  of  it  has  become  a  habit."  Powell,  in  his  "  He- 
Habit.  redity  from  God,"  declares,  "Take  it  all  in 
all,  ninety-nine  hundredths  of  all  a  man  does  he  does 
automatically."  That  leaves  his  brain  time  and  strength 
i  to  attend  to  other  affairs.  "  Only  at  the  aggressive  edge 
of  purpose,  where  effort  seizes  upon  the  new,  are  we 
conscious:"  all  else  is,  or  ought  to  be,  automatic.  Ward 
says,  "  The  process  of  ideation  [conscious  thinking]  is 
physiologically  very  expensive."  It  uses  up  brain  sub- 
stance. No  man  could  be  a  great  thinker  if  he  had  to 
give  conscious  attention  to  walking ;  there  would  be  no 
literature  if  writing  were  not  automatic ;  there  could  be 
1  no  skill  of  any  kind  were  it  not  for  habit.  The  watch- 
maker's fingers  must  work  of  themselves  ;  the  surgeon's 
muscles  must  know  how  far  to  contract;  the  singer's 
vocal  cords  must  fix  their  own  tension ;  the  orator's 
words  must  come  without  search,  and  leave  his  brain 
free  to  think.  The  more  work  consciousness  can  hand 
over  to  habit,  the  greater  the  opportunity  to  rise  into 
new  and  higher  modes  of  thought  and  activity.  The 
more  we  can  do  automatically  through  the  lower  nerve 
centers,  the  more  power  we  have  left  to  use  in  the  strug- 
gle up  to  higher  levels  of  thinking,  feeling,  and  willing. 

All  this  is  true  only  when  the  habits  formed  are  right 
habits,  for  the  capacity  to  form  habits  is  as  dangerous 

Danger  of  as  ft  is  valuable.  Wrong  habits  tend  to  de- 
Habit,  generacy,  waste  of  power  and  opportunity, 
and  obliteration  of  conscience.  Even  when  habits  are 
not  evil,  they  may  do  harm  by  so  fixing  and  "solidify- 
ing "  the  modes  of  thought  and  action  as  to  fetter  the 
mind,  and  make  progress  slow  or  impossible.      It  is  hard 


CONDITIONS  Of  MENTAL  ACTIVITY.  6 1 

work  to  pull  one's  self  out  of  the  worn  grooves  of  habit 
and  learn  to  think  and  do  new  things,  or  adapt  one's 
self  to  new  customs.  This  fact  explains  much  of  the 
difficulty  and  ineffectiveness  of  reform  work  among  the 
ignorant  and  low.  Any  real  reform  of  such  people  must 
be  based  on  changed  habits  of  eating,  drinking,  sleep- 
ing, caring  for  the  person,  etc.  ;  and  it  is  hard  to  get 
such  people  to  make  any  change  in  these  things. 

No  one  is  free  from  the  danger  of  intellectual  and 
moral  inertia,  and  no  one  can  afford  to  let  the  pur. 
posive  edge  of  consciousness  grow  dull. 

Applications  to  Teaching. 

Back  of  the  school  stands  the  greatest  factor  in  form, 
ing  habits,  —  the  home.  The  things  a  child  learns  to  do 
first,  the  way  he  learns  of  doing  them ;  the  words  he 
learns  to  speak  first,  and  the  ways  in  which  he  Early 
learns  to  speak  them  ;  the  intellectual  and  Habits, 
moral  surroundings  of  his  first  six  years,  —  these  tend  to 
become  fixed  in  his  consciousness;  and  to  remove  them 
is  often  more  than  the  most  helpful  teacher  can  do, 
after  the  child  comes  under  his  care.  The  unseen,  un- 
felt  nerve  paths  for  impressions  and  impulses  seem 
harder  to  change  than  the  courses  of  rivers.  Hundreds 
of  cultured  men  and  women  whose  early  surroundings 
were  not  helpful  in  the  formation  of  correct  habits  are 
forced  to  be  constantly  on  guard  against  lapses  of  pro- 
nunciation or  syntax,  or  some  of  the  many  conven- 
tions of  polite  society.  No  matter  how  thoroughly  one 
may  think  he  has  put  early  provincialisms  out  of  his 
vocabulary,  he  will  almost  certainly  revert  to  their  use 
when  he  is  excited,  and  consciousness  is  off  guard. 
These  arc   illustrations,   merely,  of   an    important  and 


62  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED UCA  TION. 

deep-lying  fact,  whose  value  to  the  teacher  is  evident. 
In  the  school  the  child  must  form  as  many  right  habits 
as  possible,  and  reform  such  as  may  stand  in  the  way 
of  his  progress. 

But  the  teacher  can  do  much,  and  should  spare  no 
wise  effort  to  drill  his  pupils  into  habits  of  cleanliness, 
neatness,  orderliness,  punctuality,  courtesy,  quickness,  ac- 
curacy, obedience,  and  veracity.  It  is  better  to  send 
forth  a  pupil  with  these,  and  without  much  knowledge 
of  arithmetic  or  formal  grammar,  than  to  fill  him  with 
knowledge  and  have  him  lacking  in  right  tendencies. 

Cleanliness  is  next  to  godliness,  and  probably  stands 
first,  for  surely  no  unclean  face  can  reflect  the  image  of 

Habits  in    God.     Soap  and  water  are  powerful  mission- 

schooi.  aries.  Neatness  is  simply  an  extension  of 
cleanliness  from  the  skin  outward,  to  the  clothes,  the 
desk,  the  bedroom,  the  kitchen,  the  workshop.  Pupils 
should  be  required  to  come  into  the  schoolroom  with 
clean  shoes,  with  their  clothes  properly  fastened,  with 
their  hair  brushed  ;  and  they  should  be  held  responsible, 
while  in  the  room,  for  the  condition  of  the  floor  and  of 
their  desks,  for  the  appearance  of  the  blackboard  and 
the  papers  upon  which  any  kind  of  written  work  is 
done.  Neatness  and  orderliness  are  among  the  chief 
elements  in  correct  deportment. 

Orderliness  is  closely  akin  to  neatness,  and  the  one  can- 
not be  cultivated  without  the  other.  No  pupil  should 
be  permitted  to  sit,  stand,  or  walk,  slouchily  and  lazily. 
The  teacher  must  unceasingly  (but  not  naggingly)  insist 
upon  the  erect  position  in  sitting  or  standing,  and  must 
allow  no  shuffling  in  walking.  Carried  into  the  work 
<>f  the  school,  orderliness  means  that  the  books  and 
papers  on   the   desks  shall   be  kept   in  proper  arrange- 


CONDI TIONS  OF  MEN TAL  ACTIVITY.  63 

ment ;  that  all  written  work  —  solutions,  diagrams, 
maps,  essays,  etc.  —  shall  be  done  according  to  some 
definite,  standard  form.  The  excellent  drill  which  it 
gives  in  orderliness  is  sufficient  to  justify  manual  train- 
ing, if  it  had  no  other  advantages.  There  is  much 
untidy  and  disorderly  work  going  on  everywhere;  and 
that  kind  of  work  means  waste,  —  waste  of  time,  of 
effort,  and  of  material.  In  the  child  should  be  formed 
habits  of  order,  that  the  man  or  the  woman  may  plan 
clearly  and  execute  rapidly. 

Punctuality  is  one  of  the  cardinal  virtues.  The  tardy 
man  or  woman  steals  time,  —  the  time  of  those  who 
wait.  The  child  should  be  taught  to  come  in  from 
play  upon  the  stroke  of  the  bell,  to  be  in  his  place  at 
the  opening  of  school  or  class,  and  to  return  directly 
home  without  delay.  It  is  as  easy  to  be  three  minutes 
early  as  ten  minutes  late.  In  the  home  and  in  the 
school  everything  should  go  by  the  clock. 

Courtesy  is,  of  course,  as  much  a  matter  of  heart  as 
a  matter  of  habit,  springing  as  much  from  a  desire  to 
please  or  help  as  from  practice  in  forms  of  politeness; 
but  both  heart  and  habit  can  be  cultivated.  The  boy 
should  be  so  habituated,  for  example,  to  removing  his 
hat  upon  entering  a  house  or  meeting  a  lady,  that  he 
will  do  so  unconsciously.  Children  of  both  sexes  should 
be  habituated  to  silence  in  the  presence  of  their  elders, 
to  giving  them  precedence  through  doors  or  gates,  to  the 
"thank  you  "  and  "  if  you  please  "  that  mark  the  well- 
bred  person.  In  addition  to  its  value  as  one  of  the 
minor  morals,  unfailing  courtesy  is  of  the  highest  value 
in  winning  success  in  any  field  of  labor.  The  young 
man  or  young  woman  in  whom  it  is  not  a  habit  is 
heavily  handicapped. 


64  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

Quickness,  though  a  valuable  habit,  should  never  be 
sought  at  the  expense  of  neatness,  orderliness,  or  accu- 
racy. It  comes  only  from  persistent  practice,  combined 
with  more  or  less  of  natural  aptitude  for  rapid  action  of 
mind  or  body.  The  child  must  be  trained  to  do  all  work, 
and  all  play  too,  quickly  but  neatly,  and,  above  all, 
accurately.  Many  exercises  should  be  set  in  school,  in- 
volving the  doing  of  something  in  a  given  brief  time. 
Drills  in  quick  addition,  subtraction,  and  all  other 
arithmetical  operations ;  in  reading,  spelling,  especially 
in  pronouncing,  writing ;  in  running,  catching,  climbing, 
etc.,  —  should  be  a  fixed  part  of  the  teacher's  daily  work. 

But  accuracy  is  the  chief  est  intellectual  virtue.  To 
know  exactly,  to  remember  correctly,  to  state  colorlessly, 
the  precise  facts, —  these  are  rare  accomplishments,  and 
no  effort  should  be  spared  to  attain  them  for  one's  self, 
or  to  cultivate  them  in  those  for  whose  training  and 
character  we  are  responsible.  A  teacher  cannot  be  too 
particular  about  the  "little  things"  in  a  school  exercise. 
Children  must  be  taught  to  respect  details ;  and  not 
quite  right  but  near  enough,  about  the  required  amount, 
nearly  the  correct  answer,  are  expressions  of  inaccuracy 
and  careless  work,  that  should  never  be  used  by  either 
pupils  or  teacher.  In  forming  habits  of  accuracy,  also, 
manual  training  is  of  the  highest  value. 

Obedience  to  lawful  authority,  in  home  and  state,  is 
the  corner  stone  of  the  social  fabric.  The  child  that 
forms  the  habit  of  intelligent  obedience  in  home  and 
school  will  grow  into  a  law-abiding  citizenhood.  The 
one  who  is  permitted  to  fix  habits  of  disobedience  to 
parent  or  teacher  will  in  very  many  cases  learn  obedi- 
ence in  reformatories  and  prisons.  There  seems  now  to 
be  a  grave  weakening  of  respect  and  regard  for  author- 


CONDITIONS  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY.  65 

ity  in  state  and  nation,  —  a  growing  contempt  for  law. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  condition  is  directly 
traceable,  in  large  measure,  to  the  greatly  increased 
freedom  from  authority,  from  which  children  suffer  at 
home  and  in  school.  This  decay  of  home  authority 
has  become  almost  a  national  characteristic,  and  it  is 
undoubtedly  responsible  for  much  of  the  lawlessness 
that  exists  within  our  borders.  Parents  and  teachers 
must  enforce  an  intelligent  obedience  to  rational  com- 
mands, that  shall  be  as  prompt  as  it  should  be  invariable. 

Veracity  is  accuracy  carried  forward  into  the  moral 
sphere.  There  is  an  intimate  but  not  necessary  con- 
nection between  intellectual  accuracy,  and  veracity. 
A  boy  may  be  habitually  accurate  in  arithmetic  or 
manual  training,  or  outdoor  observation,  and  yet  be  an 
habitual  moral  liar.  TrutJi-telliug  must  be  cultivated^ 
as  a  distinct  habit  in  morals.  In  many  respects  it  is  of/ 
the  first  importance.  Every  teacher  is  ready  to  testify' 
that  teaching  and  managing  a  school  would  be  infinitely 
easier  than  it  is  now,  if  pupils  had  a  fixed  habit  of  telling 
the  absolute  truth. 

The  how  of  forming  habits  in  school  may  be  summed 
up  in  two  words,  —  drill  and  imitation.     The  teache 
must  drill  the  pupils  every  day,  patiently, 
persistently,  sympathetically,  until  the  nerve       form 
tracks  of  thought  and  action  are  fixed  in  the 
young  brains  and   bodies.      Pupils  must   be  drilled  in 
walking,  sitting,  standing,  until  correct  posture  becomes 
fixed  habit;  they  must  be  drilled  in  spelling  until  the 
sound  of  a  word  will  excite  the  almost  automatic  action 
of  the  muscles  by  which  its  letters  are  uttered  or  writ- 
ten; they  must  be  drilled  in  the  fundamentals  of  arith- 
metic until  sum,  product,  difference,  or  quotient,  of  the 

Roark   Psych.  —  5. 


66  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

quantities  used,  will  be  presented  to  consciousness  with 
machine-like  precision.  A  pupil  in  addition,  for  exam- 
ple, should  not  stop  to  think  8  and  g  are  ij,  but  at  sight 
of  the  two  figures  should  think  iy  at  once.  The  me- 
chanics of  composition  must  be  drilled  into  the  learner 
until  capitalization,  punctuation,  and  paragraphing  will 
take  care  of  themselves,  and  leave  the  brain  free  to  pro- 
duce ideas.  But  drilling  comes  to  naught  if  the  teacher 
does  not  show  in  himself  the  habits  he  would  have  his 
pupils  grow  into.  In  these  matters  the  pupils  will  do 
as  the  teacher  does,  rather  than  as  he  tells  them  to  do. 
A  teacher  sitting  behind  a  disordered  desk  cannot 
j chide  a  pupil  for  lack  of  neatness;  the  lazy  teacher 
Icannot  have  a  punctual  school ;  the  deceitful  teacher 
(will  send  out  ready  liars. 

Character,  the  supreme  end  of  all  home  training  and 

all  school  work,  is  but  another  name   for  habit,  —  habit 

that  possesses  the  very  fiber  of  body  and 

Character.  .  ,      ,    .        .  .  . 

mind.  As  we  sow  habits  in  muscle  and  nerve 
and  brain,  so  shall  we,  and  those  who  come  after  us, 
reap  in  aptitude,  in  skill,  in  character. 


INTELLECT:  PRESENTATTVE  FACULTIES. 


67 


CHAPTER    VI. 

THE  INTELLECT  :    PRESENTATIVE  FACULTIES. 

The  first  group  of  faculties  of  the  mind,  according 
to  the  classification  given  in  Chapter  II.,  is  called  the 
intellect.  The  intellect  is  the  general  power  or  collective 
powers  of  the  mind  by  which  it  gains  and 

,  .  n  ,  ,     ,  r~,   .  Definition. 

classifies  knowledge.  1  his  power  or  group 
of  powers  lies  wholly  within,  is  purely  subjective ;  but 
it  is  capable  of  being  quickened  and  energized  and  de- 
veloped only  by  means  of  impressions  received  through 
the  sensorium,  which  alone  serves  as  the  means  of  bring- 
ing to  the  mind  sensations  caused  by  objects  of  the 
material  world  around  us.  Stated  in  another  way,  the 
mind  is  dependent,  for  all  primary  knowledge,  upon 
the  sense  avenues  between  it  and  the  outside  world. 
If  there  could  come  into  existence  a  being  without  any 
of  the  sense  organs,  lacking  sight  and  touch  and  hear- 
ing, and  could  live,  it  would  be  a  mere  thing,  a  lump  of 
matter,  however  potential  the  germ  of  mind  might  be. 
The  soul  would  be  sealed  within  an  impenetrable  wall. 
The  senses,  considered  only  as  physiological  organs, 
can  give  nothing  to  the  mind  ;  for  the  sense  organs  of 
many  idiots  and  the  lower  animals  are  as  well  developed 
and  are  as  physiologically  perfect  as  those  of  the  culti- 
vated scholar.  The  senses  can  only  send  in  to  the  brain 
certain  impressions  made  upon  them  ;  and  it  depends 
upon  the  something  within  the  brain,  called  mind,  what 


68  PS  YCUOL  OG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

knowledge  shall  be  made  out  of  these  impressions,  or 
the  molecular  disturbances  which  they  set  up  in  the 
central  ganglia. 

The  senses  are  called  collectively  the  objective  pre- 
sentative  faculties,  because  through  them  objective 
The  senses  impressions  are  presented  to  consciousness, 
objective.  The  special  function  of  the  senses  is  sensa- 
tion, a  responding  to  any  external  stimulus  that  affects 
nerve  tissue.  The  corresponding  function  of  mind  in 
referring  these  sensations  to  their  external  causes  is 
perception.  Sensation  and  perception  taken  together 
may  be  called  observation. 

A  full  discussion  of  the  function  of  the  senses  as 
such  would  lie  mainly  in  the  domain  of  physiology, 
and  therefore  largely  outside  the  domain  of  psychology. 
In  this  chapter  the  psychological  values  of  the  senses 
will  be  considered. 

Touch  may  be  said  to  be  the  basic  sense.     It  is  the 

one  out  of  which  all  the  others  have  developed,  in  the 

,    progress  of  life  from  lower  to  higher  forms, 

Touch,  and     f       b  o 

Temperature  and  is  the  one  through  which  the  child  gets 
Sense'  his  first  impressions.  Lower  life  forms,  like 
the  oyster,  show  sensitiveness  to  touch,  to  impressions 
upon  the  surface  of  the  body;  but  most  of  these  forms 
have  no  organs  of  sight,  or  hearing,  or  other  senses,  so 
distinct  in  the  higher  animals  and  in  man,  and  the  fully 
developed  sense  organs  of  man  are  merely  modified 
organs  of  touch.  There  must  be  actual  contact  of 
something  upon  the  proper  surfaces  of  these  organs 
before  there  can  be  sensation.  Sapid  substances  must 
touch  the  tongue  in  order  to  be  tasted;  the  particles 
thrown  off  by  odoriferous  bodies  must  touch  the  olfac- 
tory region  of  the  nose  before  there  can  be  a  percep- 


INTELLECT :  PRESENTA  TIVE  FACULTIES.  (HJ 

tion    of    smell;    light-vibrations    must    beat    upon   the 

proper  surface  in   the   eye  before  there  can  be  sight. 

Many  of  the  impressions  which  seem  to  come  through 

the  other  senses  are  found,  upon  close  inspection,  to  be 

derived  from  the  sense  of  touch,  or  some  of  its  imme- 

/ 

diate  modifications.  The  term  touch  has  been  extended 
to  include  the  sensations  of  temperature  and  pressure, 
or  resistance,  as  well  as  those/  of  "  common  feeling  " 
derived  from  the  body  as  a  whole.  It  is  considered 
safe  to  say  that  the  temperature  sense  and  the  muscular 
sense  are  distinct  from  that  of  touch  proper. 

Touch  may  be  defined  as  the  sense  through  which  we 
gain  percepts  of  surface  and  texture.  By  touch  we  de- 
termine the  smoothness  or  roughness  of  sur- 

-  i-i  •//  •  Touch,  and 

faces,  and  acquire  such  concepts  as  silkincss.  Temperature 
velvety  feel,  coarseness,  of  fiber,  etc.    The  tern-      Sense, 

7  7  7  7-7  denned. 

perature  sense  is  the  sense  through  which  we 
gain  the  percepts  of  heat  and  cold.      It  has  been  found 
that  there  are  areas  upon  the  skin  which  are  sensitive 
only  to  heat,  others  that  are   sensitive   only  to  cold. 
The  muscular  sense  is  the  sense  by  which  we     Muscular 
perceive  pressure  or    resistance   to   muscular      Sense. 
action.     This  sense  also  enables  us  to  determine  shape, 
size,  and  weight. 

The  distinction  between  these  three  senses  —  all 
modified  forms  of  the  generic  sense  of  touch  —  may  be 
easily  illustrated  by  a  simple  experiment.  Take  an 
apple  in  the  hand,  and  pass  the  fingers  and  the  palm 
lightly  over  the  surface.  From  this  light  contact  you 
perceive  the  surface  to  be  smooth  and  cool.  By  slightly 
tightening  the  grasp  as  you  pass  the  hand  round  the 
apple,  you  determine  its  spherical  shape,  its  size,  and 
degree   of  hardness.      By   balancing    the   apple  in  the 


7o 


PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


upturned  palm,  you  judge  its  weight  from  your  percep- 
tion of  resistance  to  muscular  effort.  In  like  manner 
are  acquired  percepts  of  the  surface  quality,  texture, 
temperature,  size,  shape,  weight,  and  density  of  any 
object  handled.  A  little  reflection  will  show  that  these 
are  what  might  well  be  called  the  fundamental  percepts 
of  existence.  From  them  we  derive  our  concepts  of 
motion,  of  extension,  of  solidity, —  in  short,  the  con- 
cept of  matter  itself. 

An  interesting  speculative  question  is  suggested  here  : 
Would  it  be  possible  for  us  to  get  any  idea  of  extension 
if  we  were  merely  ■a.  point  of  consciousness  ? 

We  could  dispense  with  every  other  sense  if  we  might 
retain  these  three,  for  through  these  there  would  be 
sufficient  action  and  reaction  of  mind  and  the  external 
world  upon  each  other  to  enable  us  to  live  intelligent 
and  happy  lives.  The  marvelous  history  of  Laura 
Bridgman's  life  is  too  well  known  to  make  it  necessary 
to  do  more  than  refer  to  it  in  support  of  the  proposi- 
tion just  made.  The  still  more  marvelous  history  of 
Helen  Keller  is  also  conclusive. 

It  is  a  question  not  yet  fully  decided  whether  we 
can  gain  primarily  through  sight  any  other  percepts 
than  those  of  color,  light,  and  shade;  but  there 
are  excellent  reasons,  based  on  thorough  ex- 
perimentation, for  believing  that  through  sight  may 
also  be  gained  primarily  the  percept  of  distance. 
Through  sight,  after  it  has  been  taught,  corrected  and 
directed  by  touch,  and  motion  of  the  muscles,  includ- 
ing those  of  the  eye  itself,  we  gain  ideas  of  size,  shape, 
weight,  texture,  and  kind  of  material.  The  visual  per- 
cept of  an  object  we  have  once  handled  and  tasted 
and  smelled,  recalls  the  percepts  gained  through  the 


IXTELLECT:  PRESENTATIVE  FACULTIES.         j\ 

hand,  the  tongue,  the  nose  ;  and  we  are  again  conscious 
of  the  size,  shape,  taste,  etc.,  of  the  object  looked  at. 

Through  the  sense  of  hearing  we  gain  per- 
cepts   of    sound,    of     pitch,    loudness,    and 
musical  time.     We  can  also,  through  the  ear,  judge  of 
distance  and  direction. 

The  percepts  of  taste  are  complexes  made  up  of  sen- 
sations gained  through  the  tongue  and  the  nose.  We 
would  lose  the  characteristic  flavor  of  many 

Taste. 

substances,  especially  of  those  that  are  aro- 
matic, were  it  not  for  the  help  the  tongue  gets  from  the 
nose.  This  fact  is  shown  in  the  loss  or  dulling  of  taste 
percepts  while  the  nose  is  affected  by  a  cold  or  catarrh. 
The  simple  experiment  of  tightly  pressing  the  nostrils 
shut  with  the  finger  and  thumb,  and  trying  to  taste 
spices,  will  illustrate  the  same  thing. 

The  different  varieties  of  taste  may  be  classed  under 
four  heads,  —  sweet,  bitter,  salt,  and  sour.  To  these  are 
sometimes  added  the  alkaline  and  metallic.  The  tip 
of  the  tongue  is  most  sensitive  to  sour  and  sweet ;  the 
root,  to  bitter  and  alkaline.  No  substance  can  be 
tasted  unless  it  is  more  or  less  soluble. 

The  nerves  of  smell  are  distributed   in  the   mucous 
lining  of  the  upper  part  of  the   nasal  passages.     Very 
little  is  known  about  the  origin  of  odors,  or 
how  they  affect  the  olfactory  nerves.     So  far 
as  smells  are  subject  to  classification,  they  fall  approxi- 
mately into  the  same  classes  as  tastes. 

All  the  senses  have  both  a  practical  and  an  esthetic 
value.     They   furnish   us  with   the  materials      General 
for   practical    knowledge,  out  of  which   the    Functions 

ii-ii  c  andValues 

mind    builds    concepts,   and    formulates    the       0fthe 
experience  that  enables  us  to  maintain  exist-      Senses- 


72 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


ence  in  safety  and  comfort;  and  they  supply  the  mind 
also  with  the  elements  of  the  feelings  of  beauty,  deli- 
cacy, and  refinement.  As  has  been  shown,  the  sense  of 
touch,  with  its  immediate  modifications,  is  the  sense 
through  which  comes  our  most  valuable  knowledge  of 
the  outside  world.  The  visual  sense  ranks  high  in  both 
values,  the  practical  and  the  aesthetic,  but  is  preemi- 
nently the  minister  of  the  aesthetic  feeling.  Next  to 
the  eye  ranks  the  ear,  in  both  values. 

If  a  man  should  suddenly  lose  the  sense  of  touch, 
with  the  muscular  sense  and  that  of  temperature,  he 
could  not  live  long.  He  would  be  unaware  of  cuts, 
blows,  burns,  or  other  accidents,  unless  he  happened  to 
see  them.  So  in  the  highest  degree,  touch  and  its  modi- 
fications are  protective.  Taste  and  smell  are  also  pro- 
tective senses,  both  standing  guard  over  what  passes 
into  stomach  or  lungs.  Taste  and  smell  also  directly 
assist  digestion,  food  which  smells  good  and  tastes  good 
being  more  readily  digested  than  that  which  is  insipid 
and  inodorous. 

The  expression  education  of  the  senses  means,  of 
course,  the  training  of  the  mind  to  the  proper  use  and 

Education  cnj°ymcnt  of  the  materials  which  the  senses 
of  the  furnish  to  it.  It  is  the  mind,  not  the  eye,  or 
ear,  or  tongue,  or  brain,  that  sees,  or  hears, 
or  tastes.  The  mind  will  see  only  what  it  is  capable  of 
seeing,  however  much  more  there  may  be  to  see,  and 
however  ready  the  eye  and  nerve  fiber  and  brain  may 
be  to  do  their  own  work.  The  artist  or  the  poet,  or 
any  one  of  cultivated  mind,  will  see  infinitely  more  in 
the  blending  of  colors  of  earth  and  sky  than  can  the 
untrained  plowboy  to  whom  the  most  splendid  sunset 
■neans  no  more  than  an  indication  of  the  time   to  stop 


INTELLECT :  PRESENTATIVE  E ACUITIES. 


73 


work.  The  near-sighted  botanist,  peering  among  the 
roadside  plants,  will  see  what  his  dog  at  his  side  cannot 
see,  though  the  eyes  of  the  dog  are  better  than  the  man's. 
No  power  of  mind  or  body  is  given  us  which  it  is  not 
our  duty  to  cultivate  and  train  to  right  functioning. 
All  the  senses  should  receive  proper  education,  in  both 
their  practical  and  aesthetic  service.  Even  those  senses 
that  are  usually  supposed  to  have  least  prac- 

i  .1      .  •  i  n  i  A11  Senses 

tical  or  aesthetic  value,  as  smell  and  taste,  should  be 
should  have  a  full  share  of  attention.  As  cultivated- 
has  been  said,  they  are  guardian  senses,  and  in  propor- 
tion as  they  are  trained  to  distinguish  between  helpful 
and  hurtful  substances  will  they  be  able  to  prevent  the 
entrance  of  bad  food  and  bad  water  into  the  stomach, 
and  of  bad  air  into  the  lungs.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  typhoid  fever,  diphtheria,  and  enteric  troubles 
would  be  far  less  common  if  foul  odors  and  evil  tastes 
fell  upon  trained  olfactories  and  palates  instead  of  upon 
heedless  ones.  It  is  more  than  possible  that  we  might 
have  better  bodies  and  sounder  digestions  if  those  who 
preside  over  the  destinies  of  our  kitchens  had  trained 
and  discriminating  noses  and  tongues.  Smell  is  also 
capable  of  giving  great  aesthetic  delight.  In  all  ages 
the  use  of  delicate  perfumes  has  been  an  indication  of 
refinement. 

It  is  easy  and  pleasant  to  have  in  school  an  occa- 
sional exercise  in  "  telling  by  the  smell  and  taste."  In 
the  season  of  fruits  and  flowers,  the  children  can  bring 
apples,  pears,  grapes,  roses,  violets,  and  similar  articles, 
to  school,  and  take  turns  in  identifying  them  by  tast- 
ing or  smelling  with  the  eyes  shut. 

The  chief  means  of  training  the  ear  is,  of  course, 
music.      Unfortunate!}',  so  many  teachers  know  so  little 


74 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  T/OAT. 


of  this  themselves,  that  they  cannot  use  it  successfully. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  it  will  not  be  so  very  long  until 
every  public  school  will  have  its  piano,  and  the  public 
school  teacher  will  be  fitted  to  use  it  in  cultivating 
the  love  of  song  and  the  sense  of  melody  in  every  pupil. 
Music  is  a  powerful  means  of  successful  management  of 
a  school. 

But  aside  from  music  there  are  simple  exercises  which 

will  serve  the  twofold  purpose  of  training  the  ear  and 

testing  it.     Blindfold  a  pupil,  and  have  him  judge  from 

Ear        what  direction  and  from  how  far  away  some 

Training,  slight  noise  comes,  and  by  what  it  is  pro- 
duced. The  ticking  of  a  watch,  the  tapping  of  a  bell, 
the  snapping  of  the  fingers,  are  among  the  many  simple 
sounds  that  can  be  used  in  such  experiments.  The 
results  of  these  exercises  may  reveal  to  the  teacher  seri- 
ous defects  of  hearing  in  some  children,  and  indicate 
why  these  pupils  have  seemed  dull  and  indifferent. 

It  will  be  found  an  excellent  plan,  too,  to  direct  the 
attention  of  the  pupils  to  the  many  different  sounds  in 
nature,  —  the  chirp  of  the  cricket,  the  hum  of  the  bee, 
the  song  of  birds,  all  the  multitudinous  music  of  animate 
wood  and  field,  —  and  train  them  to  note  the  differences 
of  loudness  and  pitch  in  these  sounds.  The  heart  as 
well  as  the  hearing  can  be  cultivated  in  this  way;  for  if 
the  boy  can  be  got  to  prefer  listening  to  a  bird  to  throw- 
ing at  it,  his  humanizing  has  had  a  fair  beginning.  By 
setting  the  pupil  to  attending  with  his  ears,  he  may  be 
led  to  attend  with  other  senses,  and  grow  into  a  deep 
and  reverential  appreciation  of  nature 

The  visual  sense  should  receive  its  training  together 
with,  and  to  a  large  extent  by  means  of,  the  training  of 
the  other  senses.     Especially  should  eye  and  hand  be 


INTELLECT:  PRESEMTATIVE  FACULTIES.         75 

trained  together.  The  usual  school  exercise  for  this  is 
drawing,  and  drill  in  drawing  may  be  given  by  a  teacher 
who  cannot  himself  draw.  It  is  far  better  that  the  child 
should  be  given  paper  and  pencil,  and  be  permitted 
to  practice  in  his  own  fashion  the  drawing  of  simple 
objects,  than  that  eye  and  hand  should  get  none  of 
this  training. 

But  there  are  other  ways  of  developing  the  power  to 
see,  and  the  power  to  perceive  through  skin  and  muscle. 
Objects  of  different  materials,  sizes,  shapes,  weights,  and 
textures,  can  easily  be  provided  in  any  school, 
and  the  children  will  welcome  opportunities     MuscieS; 
to  distinguish  these  by  handling  and  seeing    skin,  and 

,  -r-^    ......  ,.  .  ,  Eyes. 

them.  Drills  in  estimating  distance,  size,  and 
weight,  through  touch  and  sight,  will  be  greatly  enjoyed. 
In  every  case,  estimated  distances,  weights,  and  dimen- 
sions should  be  verified  by  exact  measuring  and  weigh- 
ing. A  common  laboratory  experiment  in  psychology, 
which  may  easily  be  imitated  in  any  school,  is  to  use 
small  bits  of  cork,  of  known  weight,  in  determining  sen- 
sitiveness to  pressure.  By  placing  these  weights,  one  at 
a  time,  upon  different  parts  of  the  hands  or  face  of  the 
same  pupil  and  upon  different  pupils,  it  will  be  found 
that  some  parts  of  the  body  and  some  pupils  are  much 
more  sensitive  to  pressure  than  others. 

An  excellent  eye  test  is  to  draw  a  line  upon  the  black- 
board, and  have  the  pupils,  in  turn,  put  a  dot  at  what 
they  believe  to  be  its  middle  point  ;  or  have  them  draw 
on  another  board  a  line  which  they  judge  to  be  of  the 
same  length.  Two  other  suggestive  exercises  may  be 
mentioned  which  test  the  area,  or  rather  sphere,  of  con- 
scious vision.  While  a  pupil  is  looking  fixedly  at  some 
point  in  direct  line  with  his  eyes,  the  teacher  or  another 


j6  PS  YCHOL OGY  IN  ED UCA  TIOM. 

pupil  may  place  objects  anywhere  within  the  hemisphere 
in  front  of  him,  and  the  readiness  with  which  he  identi- 
fies these  objects  without  turning  his  eyes  will  show  his 
range  of  vision.  Place  a  number  of  familiar  small  objects 
not  too  close  together  on  a  table  or  desk,  and  cover  them 
with  a  cloth.  When  ready  for  the  test,  jerk  the  cloth 
away,  and  let  the  pupils  look  at  the  objects  (which  they 
must  not  have  seen  there  before)  for  two  seconds,  or 
less  time  ;  then  cover  the  objects  again,  and  have  each 
pupil  tell  what  ones  and  how  many  he  saw.  With  dif- 
ferent colored  cardboards  or  bits  of  paper,  the  teacher 
may  also  test  his  pupils  for  color  blindness. 

All  these  exercises  should  be  almost  wholly  in  the 
nature  of  play  rather  than  routine  work  ;  but  the  teacher 
Results  to  be  should,  under  no  circumstances,  fail  to  make 

recorded,  careful  and  accurate  record  of  the  results. 
These  records  may  include  the  age,  sex,  social  rank, 
health,  and  general  advancement  of  the  pupils ;  for 
while  such  items  are  not  of  direct  value  to  the  teacher, 
still  they  are  interesting,  and  are  of  value  to  the  soci- 
ologist. From  such  tests  and  records  the  discerning 
teacher  will  be  able  to  draw  valuable  conclusions  regard- 
ing special  aptitudes  or  special  defects  of  his  pupils. 
These  combined  tests  and  training  drills  should  be  sup- 
plemented with  general  observation  work  of  every  kind. 
The  eye  should  be  trained  to  take  quick  and  accurate 
note  of  everything  that  comes  within  its  view,  —  objects 
and  changes  in  nature;  pictures,  buildings,  machinery, — 
in  short,  everything,  since  everything  may  be  made  to 
furnish  knowledge-material. 

It  is  to  be  devoutly  hoped  that  the  beginnings  in 
sense  cultivation  which  arc  being  made  everywhere 
will  soon  prow  into  a  full   share  of  the  time  which  has 


/.  \ '  TEL  LECT :  PR  F.  SE  N  TAT  II  'E  FA  C  UL  TIE  S.         7  7 

heretofore  been  spent  in  word  cramming.  Teachers  of 
children  have  been  criminally  neglectful  of  those  broad 
and  open  highways  to  the  child's  mind,  his  senses,  and 
have  tried  to  substitute  word  cramming  for  sense 
training. 

There  is  another  faculty  which  can  properly  be  called 
presentative,  since  it  presents  knowledge  to  conscious- 
ness.    This  is  intuition,  classed  in  Chapter  II. 

1  r  ■  r  1  T-i  Intuition. 

as  the  subjective  presentative  faculty.  1  he 
term  intuition  has  been  used  in  various  senses,  of 
which  it  is  necessary  to  note  only  that  most  generally 
accepted.  It  is  used,  like  many  other  names  in  psy- 
chology, to  designate  both  a  faculty  and  a  product. 
As  a  faculty,  it  may  be  defined  as  the  poiver  by  which 
we  know  without  proof.  As  a  product,  an  intuition  is 
a  primary  concept  occasioned  by,  but  not  formed  from, 
sense  perceptions.  Our  intuitions  are  concepts  of  being, 
space,  time,  and  cause.  To  these  have  been  added  by 
some  writers  the  concepts  of  beauty,  goodness,  truth, 
and  God.  We  are  said  to  intuit  (that  is,  to  know  with- 
out proof)  the  separate  existence  of  matter  and  self, — 
the  existence  of  matter  as  being  in  space  ;  the  existence 
of  self  and  the  occurrence  of  events,  in  time  ;  that  all 
things  are  caused;  and  that  like  causes  produce  like 
effects.  These  concepts  are  called  necessary  truths.  The 
mind  must  believe  and  accept  them  as  soon  as  they  are 
presented,  in  order  to  save  all  other  knowledge  from 
chaotic  confusion. 

There   are   two  theories  regarding    intuition,  which 
have  been  more  or  less  wordily  set  forth  by  those  who 
have  held  the  one  or  the  other.     One  is  that  Theories  of 
intuition  is  an  innate  power  of  the  mind,  a  dis-    Intuition- 
tinct  activity,  like  the  memory  or  the  will ;  and  that  its 


78  PS YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED UCA  TION. 

function  is  to  form  certain  concepts  as  soon  as  the  mind 
has  reached  the  right  stage  of  development.  The  other 
explains  our  intuitions,  not  as  the  results  of  the  work 
of  any  special  innate  faculty,  but  as  the  experiences  of 
the  individual  or  of  the  race.  According  to  this  view, 
each  individual,  in  the  development  of  the  human  race, 
has  discovered  certain  relations  of  things,  has  acted  upon 
and  lived  according  to  these  relations,  and  has  trans- 
mitted the  knowledge  of  them  to  his  offspring,  who  in 
their  turn  have  added  to  this  knowledge  similar  expe- 
riences of  their  own  ;  and  so  on,  until  the  accumulated 
experience  becomes  intuition. 

Without  going  further  into  a  discussion  of  the  diffi- 
culties met  with  in  any  attempt  to  explain  intuition,  it 
is  enough  to  say  that  we  do  have  consciousness  of  time, 
space,  and  cause,  and  these  concepts  are  necessary  to 
our  intelligent  and  confident  use  and  enjoyment  of  our 
environment.  The  presentations  of  intuition  are  as  uni- 
versal and  as  reliable  as  the  presentations  of  sense.  To 
cultivate  the  senses  alone  and  neglect  or  decry  intuition 
is  to  end  in  a  blind  materialism.  To  cultivate  both 
objective  and  subjective  sense  is  to  grow  from  the  lower 
to  the  higher  life. 


INTELLECT :  REPRESENTATIVE  FACULTY. 


79 


CHAPTER    VII. 

THE  INTELLECT  :    THE  REPRESENTATIVE  FACULTY. 

No  real  knowledge  would  be  possible  if  percept 
followed  percept  day  after  day,  without  leaving  any 
permanent  record,  and  if  what  is  in  consciousness  now 
could  not  come  into  consciousness  again.  The  senses 
might  make  presentation  after  presentation  without  any 
resulting  growth  of  mind,  if  the  different  percepts  could 
not  be  re-presented  to  consciousness.  The  power  which 
the  mind  has  to  reproduce  its  own  former 

...  r  Definition. 

states  is  called  memory.  Imagination  is  usu- 
ally described  as  a  representative  faculty  coordinate  with 
memory,  but  a  little  analysis  will  show  that  what  is  thus 
miscalled  imagination  is  simply  memory  recalling  images 
which  have  been  in  consciousness.  Imagination  is  the 
creative  faculty,  and  will  be  discussed  as  such  later. 

The  functions  of  memory  are  to  retain  and  Functions  of 
to  reproduce.     By  some  psychologists  a  third     Memory- 
function  is  given  it,  that  of  recognizing  or  reknowing 
the  thing  remembered. 

It  is  open  to  question  whether  it  is  memory  or  con- 
sciousness that  recognizes  (reknows)  past  mental  states. 
Ladd  makes  recognition  an  essential  function  of  mem- 
ory, and  says  there  is  no  real  memory  of  past  states  of 
mind  unless  recognition  takes  place.  But  quite  fre- 
quently some  thought,  or  phrase,  or  image,  will  come 
into  the  mind,  which  we  believe  to  be  new,  but  which 


8o  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TI(  >X. 

we  later  accidentally  identify  as  one  we  had  had  before. 
Memory,  in  such  cases,  retains  and  reproduces,  but  recog- 
nition does  not  take  place.  It  seems  possible,  then,  to 
retain  ideas  which  will  not  be  recognized  at  all,  unless 
under  some  unusual  stimulus. 

There  is  excellent  ground  for  believing  that  every- 
thing that  makes  even  a  very  slight  impression   upon 
M    ,_.  consciousness  is  faithfully  retained.     It  is  a 

Nothing  is  ■' 

wholly  peculiar  fact  that  strong  impressions  made 
forgotten.  UpQn  ^-\q  muscles,  nerves,  or  brain, persist  for 
some  time  after  they  are  made.  For  instance,  if  we  look 
steadily  at  a  bright  window  for  a  few  minutes  and  then 
close  the  eyes,  we  can  still  see  the  window,  not  as  we  did 
with  the  eyes  open,  but  as  if  it  were  a  picture  printed  on 
something  within  the  eye.  A  boy  who  has  plowed  all 
day  will,  if  unaccustomed  to  such  work,  "  plow  all  night." 
He  not  only  dreams  of  plowing,  but  his  muscles  actu- 
ally work.  In  the  delirium  of  fever,  the  decay  of  old 
age,  organic  brain  disease,  or  imminent  danger  of  violent 
death,  as  by  drowning,  countless  apparently  wholly  for- 
gotton  scenes  and  thoughts  and  experiences  of  long- 
gone  years  come  into  consciousness  again.  Old  people 
readily  recall  what  took  place  in  their  childhood ;  to  the 
drowning  man  his  past  life  unrolls  like  a  scroll  ;  an  igno- 
rant servant  has  been  known  to  recite,  in  the  delirium  of 
her  fatal  illness,  passage  after  passage  of  Hebrew  which 
she  had  heard  her  master  read  years  before.  It  is  note- 
worthy, that,  as  people  grow  older  under  normal  condi- 
tions, they  are  apt  to  return  more  and  more  to  the  ways 
of  doing  and  living,  to  the  habits  and  opinions,  of  their 
earlier  years. 

Attempts  have  been  made  to  explain  physiologically 
how  memory  does  its  work,  by  supposing  that  every 


INTELLECT  :  REPRESEN  T.  1  TIVE  1- .  \CL  LTV.       Si 

mental  state,  every  feeling,  every  act  of  will,  makes  an 
impression  on  the  brain  cells,  or  is  accompanied  by,  or 
is  caused  by,  some  change  in  these  cells,  and  that  these 
impressions  or  changes  are  in  some  way  made 

1  Physiological 

permanent.  Then  when  the  blood  is  made  Explanation 
to  flow  through  .these  changed  cells  more  °fMemory- 
strongly  than  usual,  as  by  an  effort  of  the  will  in  try- 
ing to  remember,  the  mental  states  corresponding  to 
the  cell  changes  again  appear  in  consciousness.  It  will 
readily  be  seen  that  the  explanation  needs  explaining. 

But  the  physical  basis  of  memory  is  more  readily  dis- 
cernible than  that  of  any  of  our  other  faculties  except 
the  presentative.  There  is,  for  instance,  a  real  muscle 
memory.  A  swimmer  never  forgets  the  swimming 
stroke,  even  though  he  may  not  use  it  for  years.  One 
who  has  been  a  skillful  operator  on  a  writing  machine 
will  automatically  fall  into  the  right  fingering  of  the 
familiar  keyboard,  though  he  may  not  have  touched  a 
machine  in  months. 

Memory,  as   regards    its   relation   to   will,  is  of  two 
kinds, —  involuntary    or    spontaneous,   and    voluntary. 
Involuntary  memory  is  called  remembrance;     Kinds  of 
voluntary,  recollection.       Remembrance  is  a    Memory, 
part   of   the  "mental  current"  that  flows  unceasingly 
through  our  waking,  and   much  of   our  sleeping,  con- 
sciousness.    On  this  mental  stream  are  carried  bits  of 
song,  familiar  sayings,  fragments  of  conversations,  pic- 
tures of  places,  suggestions  to  do  this  or  that,  —  every 
rag  and  tag  of  former  mental  states,  mixed  with  the 
sense  impressions  and  thoughts  that  are  all  The  Stream 
the  time  spontaneously  arising.     This  stream   of  Remem- 
of  remembrance  will  often,  in  spite  of  every 
effort    at    prevention,   sweep   attention    aside,   and   fill 
Koark  Psych.  —  6. 


82  PS YCHO LOGY  IN  ED UCA  TIOAT. 

and  overflow  consciousness.  There  are  two  kinds  of 
"  drift  "  upon  its  surface  that  are  worth  looking  out 
for:  one  is  made  up  of  images,  ideas,  suggestions  that 
may  prove  valuable  in  starting  trains  of  connected 
thought ;  the  other  is  made  up  of  ridiculous  or  evil 
suggestions,  sometimes  almost  seeming  to  be  made  by 
some  one  or  some  thing  within  us.  Out  of  the  first 
kind  of  drift  we  may  get  the  key  to  a  difficult  solution, 
an  apt  quotation,  or  a  subject  or  a  thought  for  an 
essay,  —  numberless  "good  ideas."  Out  of  the  second 
come  often  many  of  our  severest  temptations.  The 
tide  of  remembrance  is  in  constant  flow,  except  perhaps 
at  times  of  the  most  intense  concentration  of  mind, 
and  ebbs  and  rises  according  to  the  varying  power  to 
fix  attention  upon  some  certain  object  of  thought. 
One  who  gives  himself  up  to  remembrance  is  an  idle 
dreamer,  spending  his  time  in  reverie  and  air-castle 
building ;  and  some  unfortunate  circumstance  may  at 
any  time  cause  his  fancies  so  to  possess  his  conscious- 
ness that  he  will  cross  the  line  between  sanity  and 
insanity. 

Voluntary  memory,  or  recollection,  is  the  faculty  act- 
ing under  control  and  direction  of  the  will.     We  may 

Recoiiec-  desire  to  recall  some  part  of  our  accumulated 
tion-  knowledge.  An  effort  of  the  will  is  made  to 
bring  the  fact  wanted  back  into  consciousness,  and  soon 
it  is  re-presented  to  us,  often  apparently  coming  of  itself, 
oftener  led  by  related  ideas.  One  of  the  oddities  of 
memory  is  the  queer  feeling  of  loss  —  of  mental  "gone- 
ness"—  we  experience  when  a  name,  or  date,  or  fact, 
which  we  were  just  now  conscious  of,  slips  out  of  the 
mind.  By  steadily  focusing  attention  upon  the  place 
where   the    idea  was,   we  can   usually  bring   it    back. 


INTELLECT:    REPRESENTATIVE  FACULTY.         83 

Generally  the  recall  must  be  effected  through  associa- 
tion;  that  is,  running  the  mind  over  ideas  connected  in 
some  way  with  the  particular  one  desired,  until  we  find 
what  is  wanted,  as  when  we  say  over  the  alphabet  to 
find  a  name.  At  other  times  memory  brings  up  ideas 
faster  than  we  can  use  them.  In  such  a  case,  as  in 
writing  an  essay  or  making  an  extemporaneous  speech, 
we  can  keep  a  number  of  ideas  waiting  in  the  anteroom 
of  consciousness  until  we  invite  them  to  enter  and  be 
of  service.  A  rapid  speaker  or  writer  must  have  many" 
ideas  in  sight  besides  those  he  is  expressing.  Some- 
times memory  begins  work  under  volitional  direction, 
but  seems  to  continue  it  automatically.  This  is  illus- 
trated in  the  case  of  a  good  platform  speaker.  He  fixes 
his  attention  upon  the  line  of  thought  he  wants  to 
present  to  his  audience,  and  memory  immediately  be- 
gins to  supply  zcords  for  speech,  and  continues  to  do  so 
without  conscious  effort.  Indeed,  even  the  thoughts 
themselves  seem  often  to  come  automatically,  after  a 
beginning  is  made. 

Memory   may    be   further    described   as   verbal  and 
logical.     Verbal  memory  has  especial  facility  in  retain- 
ing and  reproducing  zvords  and   their  com-      verbal 
binations.     One  with  a  strong  verbal  memory     Memory, 
will  readily  commit  and  reproduce  the  exact  words  of 
a  definition  or  rule,  of  a  poem,  or  a  passage  in  history. 
For  such  a  person  it  is  easier  to  memorize  than  to  un- 
derstand, and  memory  will  be  made  to  do  the  work  of 
the  thinking  faculty.     A  logical  memory  finds  it  diffi- 
cult to  hold  the  exact  language  in  which  a      Logical 
thought  is  expressed,  but  readily  retains  and     Memory, 
recalls  the  thought  itself.     A  pupil  with  a  good  logical 
memory  must  understand  what  he  studies  in  order  to 


84 


PSYCHOLOGY.  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


remember  it,  and  prefers  to  recite  the  substance  of  a 
passage  in  his  own  language.  There  is  no  reason,  ap- 
parently, why  it  should  be  true,  but  it  is  true  often, 
that  a  strong  verbal  memory  is  found  in  minds  very 
weak  in  the  other  faculties. 

Different  persons  are  endowed  with  memories  that 
vary  in  many  other  ways  than  those  mentioned  in  the 
preceding  paragraphs.  One  person  has  an  excellent 
memory  for  ear  impressions  ;  another  can  more  readily 
retain  and  recall  what  he  gains  through  the  eye.  One 
person  will  remember  arithmetic  well,  but  cannot  learn 
a  Latin  declension  ;  another  can  commit  history  with 
little  difficulty,  while  he  has  great  trouble  in  remem- 
bering the  generalizations  of  science.  Wide  variations 
of  memory  are,  however,  comparatively  rare;  and  it 
may  safely  be  said  that  one  who  has  a  good  memory 
for  one  class  of  facts  can  remember  any  other  kind 
equally  well,  if  he  will  only  set  himself  to  do  so.  An 
"  all  round  "  memory,  one  that  will  hold  and  readily 
reproduce  everything  committed  to  it,  —  sense  impres- 
sions, words,  facts,  thoughts,  —  is  greatly  to  be  desired  ; 
and  no  effort  should  be  spared  to  make  what  memory 
we  have  as  effective  as  possible.  It  should  be  assidu- 
ously trained,  both  to  verbal  exactness  and  to  logical 
association  of  thoughts. 

A  system  of  memory  training  is  called   mnemonics. 

There   are    various    such    systems    of    cultivating    the 

memory,  some  of  them  old,  some  new  ;  many 

Mnemonics. 

of  them  artificial  and  cumbersome,  wrong  in 
principle,  and  failures  in  use;  a  few  correct  in  theory, 
and  more  or  less  successful  in  practice.  All  that  have 
been  found  in  any  degree  helpful  are  based  upon  some 
or  all    of   the  laws  of  memory.     These    laws   may  be 


INTELLECT :  REPRESENTATIVE  FACULTY.        85 

named  as  follows:  (1)  the  law  of  use;  (2)  the  law  of 
interest ;  (3)  the  law  of  attention;  (4)  the  law  of  repe- 
tition ;  (5)  the  laws  of  association,  of  which  there  are 
several. 

Memory,  like  every  other  faculty,  of  either  mind  or 
body,  is  developed  by  using  it.  The  law  of  use  runs 
through  all  nature.  Powell  says  the  body  Law  of 
is,  in  all  its  organs,  the  result  of  work.  All  Use- 
through  nature  it  is  true  that  failure  to  use  means 
degeneracy.  If  an  organ  ceases  to  function  actively,  it 
becomes  useless.  Some  of  the  religious  devotees  of 
India  hold  an  arm  in  a  certain  position  without  using 
it,  until  it  becomes  shriveled  and  fixed,  so  that  it  is  no 
longer  obedient  to  will.  Through  lack  of  proper  exer- 
cise, memory  often  becomes  weak  and  unreliable.  The 
one  sure  way  to  strengthen  a  muscle  or  memory  is  to  use 
it.     A  notebook  is  a  dangerous  and  unruly  servant. 

An  analysis  of  the  numerous  widely  advertised  sys- 
tems of  memory  training  will  show  that  they  agree  in 
two  essentials,  —  the  necessity  of  putting  something 
into  the  memory  as  a  basis  to  start  from ;  and  the  asso- 
ciation with  this  of  the  things  to  be  remembered.  The 
best  brief  direction  for  properly  training  the  memory 
is,  use  it  according  to  the  laws  of  association. 

In  the  case  of  memory,  as  of  everything  else,  interest  is 
the  best  spur  to  use.  We  more  actively  and  effectively 
use  the  memory  in  the  acquisition  of  those  Law  of 
things  in  which  we  are  most  interested.  In  Interest- 
other  words,  we  remember  wJiat  interests  us.  But  mere 
superficial  interest  is  rather  detrimental  than  otherwise 
to  good  retention;  for  a  wandering  curiosity,  flitting 
here  and  there,  distracts  attention,  and  the  mind  does 
not  dwell  long  enough  upon  any  one  thing  to  get  it 


86  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED UCA  TIOAT. 

fixed  in  memory.  This  fact  is  often  amusingly  illus- 
trated by  the  evident  distraction  of  sightseers,  who, 
driven  by  a  greedy  curiosity  from  point  to  point  of  some 
great  exposition  or  of  some  strange  city,  are  unable  to 
fix  any  valuable  acquisition  in  mind,  and  cannot  after- 
ward give  any  connected  account  of  what  they  have  seen. 

The  law  of  attention,  briefly  stated,  is,  We  remember 
what  we  give  careful  attention  to.     It  was  noted  in  a 

Law  of  preceding  chapter  that  the  best  attention  is 
Attention.  tiiat  which  [s  due  to  interest ;  so  the  laws  of 
interest  and  attention,  as  regards  memory  training,  are 
very  closely  connected.  What  is  committed  to  memory 
by  forced  attention  is  very  poorly  retained.  Every  one 
has  had  the  annoying  experience  of  trying  to  read  an 
uninteresting  book,  or  to  read  something  while  the 
mind  was  occupied  with  other  matters.  Under  such 
circumstances,  a  paragraph  or  sentence  may  be  read 
and  reread,  without  its  making  any  permanent  impres- 
sion upon  consciousness.  The  mind's  retention  is 
directly  proportioned  to  its  attention. 

Frequent  conscious  repetition  of  anything  tends  to 
fix  it  in  memory.     By  persistent  repetition  of  effort  we 

Law  of  learn  to  write,  to  row,  to  sew,  to  do  anything 
Repetition,  requiring  manual  dexterity.  We  fix  the 
multiplication  table  and  other  such  matters  in  mind  by 
constant  repetition.  But  mere  perfunctory  repetition 
rather  serves  to  prevent  than  to  aid  retentive  acquisition. 
There  seems  to  be  a  limit  beyond  which  repetition  is  of 
no  service  in  memorizing.  The  mere  conning  over  a 
lesson,  without  interest  or  real  attention,  seems  to  make 
it  more  difficult  to  learn.  The  teacher  should  always 
be  careful  to  introduce  variety  into  his  repetitions,  in 
drill  or  review,  and  thus  keep  interest  awake. 


INTELLECT :  REPRESENTATIVE  FACULTY.        87 

The  element  of  time  enters  into  acquisition  by  repeti- 
tion. A  lesson  is  more  readily  and  thoroughly  learned 
if  it  is  laid  aside  after  it  has  been  gone  over  once  or 
twice  thoroughly,  and  then  is  taken  up  again  some  hours 
later,  than  if  the  same  time  is  put  upon  it  consecutively. 

Association  of  ideas  serves  to  name  very  aptly  a 
mental  phenomenon  which  is,  like  all  other  mental 
phenomena,  in  no  wise  explained  by  merely  Laws  of 
naming  it.  By  this  phrase  is  meant  the  Association- 
grouping-together  of  impressions  and  ideas,  so  that 
when  one  member  of  a  group  comes  into  consciousness, 
the  others  of  that  group  will  also  be  remembered.  The 
process  by  which  these  associated  ideas  follow  one 
another  into  consciousness  is  called  suggestion.  We  say, 
"  That  remark  reminds  me  of  [suggests]  something  I 
heard  the  other  day."  We  are  often  wont  to  verify  a 
date  or  an  event,  not  by  reference  to  a  calendar,  but  by 
recalling  some  other  occurrence,  perhaps  quite  trivial, 
with  which  the  first  is  associated  in  some  way.  We  may, 
for  instance,  recollect  that  a  certain  important  telegram 
which  we  received  years  ago,  reached  us  on  Sunday,  be- 
cause we  remember  hearing  the  ringing  of  the    .    _ 

&  e>      s>  An  Experi- 

church  bells  while  reading  the  message.  In  ment  in 
conversation  with  a  friend,  some  chance  word  Ass0C,atl0n- 
may  start  a  train  of  associated  ideas  that  come  trooping 
through  consciousness  during  a  brief  lull  in  the  talk, 
and  the  next  thought  uttered  may  therefore  be  appar- 
ently totally  disconnected  with  the  previous  remarks, 
although  the  association  in  the  mind  of  the  speaker  may 
be  very  close  and  coherent.  There  is  no  more  interest- 
ing psychological  pastime  than  to  start  a  conversation 
with  a  friend,  and,  after  making  note  of  the  first  remark, 
let   the   talk  drift   naturally   and   spontaneously    for  a 


88  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

quarter  of  an  hour,  noting  the  remark  made  at  the  close 
of  that  time.  Then  try  to  trace  back  the  conversation, 
and  see  along  what  line  of  association  the  mind  traveled 
from  the  first  to  the  last  remark.  The  suggestion  of 
ideas  is  also  illustrated  by  the  way  in  which  uneducated 
people  often  go  into  unimportant  details  in  narrating 
some  occurrence.  All  the  details  are  closely  associated 
in  their  minds,  and,  in  the  absence  of  a  trained  power 
to  select  and  combine,  all  are  given  equal  prominence. 

Various  names  have  been  given  the  laws  of  associa- 
tion. The  following  are,  perhaps,  sufficiently  exact: 
(i)  law  of  contiguity  in  time  and  place  ;  (2)  law  of  simi- 
larity;  (3)  law  of  sign  and  tiling  signified ;  (4)  law  of 
cause  and  effect. 

We  easily  associate  events  that  happened  at  the 
same  time  or  in  closely  consecutive  times,  even  when 

Law  of  they  occurred  in  widely  separated  places  ; 
contiguity.  we  ajso  associate  events  that  have  occurred 
in  the  same  place  or  in  contiguous  places,  though  per- 
haps at  widely  different  times.  Many  most  valuable 
associations  are  made  between  events  occurring  together 
or  contiguously  in  both  time  and  place.  We  associate 
the  Columbian  Exposition  with  the  great  railway  riots 
of  1894,  because  they  were  both  at  Chicago,  though  at 
different  times.  This  is  association  through  identity  or 
contiguity  of  place.  We  often  find  it  helpful  to  learn 
United  States  history  by  "administrations,"  because 
the  events  that  occurred  during  a  given  administration 
are  grouped  together  in  time. 

The  element  of  time  is  essential  to  most  association 
in  place;  it  is  necessary,  for  instance,  that  we  should 
not  merely  remember  that  Chicago  was  the  place  in 
which  occurred  both   the  Columbian    Exposition  and 


INTELLECT  :  REPRESENTA  TIVE  FACULTY. 


89 


the  railway  strike,  but  we  must  also  remember  which 
occurred  first.  So  in  learning  a  new  road  or  the  streets 
of  a  strange  city,  we  not  only  associate  the  prominent 
objects  that  serve  as  landmarks,  by  their  proximity  in 
place,  but  also  by  the  order  in  which  we  passed  them 
in  time. 

We  associate  things  that  are  similar.  The  spelling- 
book  writers  have  abundantly  availed  themselves  of 
this  law,  in  giving  lists  of  words  of  similar  Law  of 
sound,  similar  form,  and  similar  meaning.  Similarity- 
The  various  jingles  given  in  some  Latin  grammars,  by 
which  the  learner  may  the  more  readily  learn  a  list  of 
prepositions  or  some  rule  of  syntax,  are  also  based  upon 
the  law  of  similarity.  Alliteration  and  rhyme  aid  in 
the  memorizing  of  poetry.  Things  producing  like  effects 
or  produced  by  like  causes  are  readily  associated.  Al- 
though some  psychologists  name  association  by  contrast 
also,  yet  it  is  questionable  whether  the  mind  spontane- 
ously associates  sharply  contrasting  ideas.  Ugliness  can 
hardly  be  said  to  suggest  beauty,  or  a  very  tall  building 
to  suggest  a  hut. 

Association  of  sign  and  thing  signified  is  illustrated  in 
the  association  of  things  with  their  names,  of  ivords  and 
symbols  with   their   corresponding  objects  or 
ideas.     The  importance  of  this  form  of  asso-    Sign  and 
ciation  will  be  perceived  at  once,  especially  its      Thing 

,  .  .  t       •       r  1  \  signified. 

value  to  the  teacher,  it  is  fundamental  to 
all  learning.  The  spoken  word  must  suggest  promptly 
and  clearly  the  idea  for  which  it  stands,  and  also  the 
written  form  of  the  word.  A  letter  with  its  diacritical 
mark  must  suggest  the  correct  sound  to  be  uttered. 
I  he  signs  — ,  +,  -v-,  etc.,  and  their  spoken  names,  must 
instantly  suggest  the  corresponding  mathematical  op- 


90 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


erations.  The  rapid  and  accurate  work  of  expert  teleg- 
raphers and  members  of  army  and  navy  signal  corps 
is  due  to  the  rapidity  with  which  the  sign  suggests  the 
thing  signified. 

The  time  taken  for  an  impulse  to  travel  from  the  eye, 
or  ear,  or  the  organs  of  touch,  to  the  brain,  and  for  the 
corresponding  outgoing  impulse  to  produce  its  proper 
effect  in  some  muscle,  is  called  reaction  time.  For  ex- 
ample, the  time  elapsing,  when  all  conditions  are  most 
favorable,  between  seeing  the  sign  -f-  and  reading  \tplus, 
is  reaction  time,  —  the  time  consumed  by  the  reaction 
of  the  sign,  through  consciousness,  upon  the  muscles 
used  in  uttering  the  word.  At  first  thought  it  might 
be  supposed  that  this  time  is  too  short  to  be  measured  ; 
but  it  has  been  pretty  accurately  determined  in  the 
laboratory,  and  found  to  average  between  one  tenth 
and  two  tenths  of  a  second. 

Our  acquisitions  may  be  readily  associated  and  made 

highly  serviceable  by  the  processes  just  described,  and 

r     yet  not  have  any  logical  thread  of  connection 

Law  of        J  J         a 

Cause  and  running  through  them.  But  ideas  that  are 
Effect'  associated  in  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect 
have  a  logical  coherency  that  greatly  aids  retention  and 
recollection.  Upon  seeing  any  new  thing,  the  question 
is  instinctively  asked,  What  is  its  use?  The  child  clamors 
to  know  "  what  is  that  for,"  upon  being  shown  a  new 
object.  We  more  readily  remember  what  and  where 
the  "  date  line  "  is,  if  we  know  the  reasons  of  its  being 
established.  The  names  of  the  muscles  are  much  easier 
to  learn  if  with  the  names  we  learn  the  uses.  The 
motorman  on  a  street  car  can  do  his  work  more  intelli- 
gently, and  therefore  better,  if  he  knows  all  the  effects 
produced  by  the  different  movements  of  his  lever. 


INTELLECT :  REPRESENTATIVE  FACULTY. 


91 


Attempts  have  been  made  to  reduce  the  laws  of  asso- 
ciation to  one,  or  at  most  two.  Ladd  includes  them  all 
under  the  law  of  contiguity,  or  nearness,  by  which  all 
ideas  that  are  formed  at  the  same  time  or  consecutive 
times  are  associated,  and   one  suggests  the 

1        •  r  1  r  The 

others,     but  analysis  of  any  simple  act  of     inclusive 
memory  will  show  that  there  must  be  a  rcla-      Law  of 

Relation. 

tion  of  some  kind  between  ideas,  to  cause 
their  association  ;  and  it  is  equally  clear  that  the  rela- 
tion of  contiguity  is  not  the  only  relation  by  which 
association  is  effected.  It  therefore  seems  better  to 
try  to  reduce  all  the  laws  of  association  to  the  one  law 
of  relation.  No  fact  of  consciousness  is  of  any  value 
or  of  any  interest  except  as  it  is  related  to  other  facts. 
Relativity  is  the  bond  or  nexus  that  binds  all  our  knowl- 
edge into  a  coherent  unity.  Then,  too,  under  the  law 
of  relation  can  be  brought  several  forms  of  association 
that  cannot  be  easily  named  in  any  other  way,  or  shown 
to  come  logically  uitder  the  laws  of  association  usually 
given.  Renamed  in  terms  of  relation,  the  laws  of  asso- 
ciation would  be  (1)  relation  of  nearness  in  time  and 
space  ;  (2)  relation  of  resemblance ;  (3)  relation  of  sign 
and  thing  signified;  (4)  relation  of  cause  and  effect. 
The  relativity  of  two  or  more  things  serves  as  a  kind 
of  peg  on  which  to  hang  them  in  the  memory.  Knowl- 
edge of  the  inner  relations  between  principles,  rules, 
formula;,  and  processes,  in  arithmetic  and  algebra,  is 
the  only  knowledge  that  is  of  any  real  value  in  a  mem- 
orized rule.  History  can  be  remembered  in  any  way 
worth  while,  only  by  perceiving  the  relations  between 
its  important  events  and  the  subordinate  events  leading 
up  to  them.  A  diagram  or  outline,  a  written  solution, 
a  figure  in  mensuration,  are  helpful  only  in  proportion 


92 


PSYCHOLOG  V  IN  EDUCA  TIOX. 


to  the  accuracy  with  which  they  can  be  made  to  show 
real  relations. 

It  is  only  classified  knowledge  —  that  is,  knowledge 

placed  in  its  real  relations  —  that  can  be  most  effectively 

retained  and  reproduced  for  use.     Unclassi- 

ciassified    £ej    knowledge    is    almost    useless.      Some 

Knowledge  ° 

the  only     minds  seem  to  be  mere  junk  shops  of  knowl- 

eaed  "ow "  edge,  filled  with  scraps  and  fragments  of 
learning,  tumbled  together  as  they  came, 
with  no  orderliness  or  method  in  their  arrangement. 
Others  are  like  a  well-arranged,  well-kept  museum, 
where  everything  is  properly  named  and  classified,  and 
where  everything  can  be  got  at  without  delay  and  with 
small  effort. 

The  law  of  relation  may  also  be  called  the  laze  of 
understanding,  for  understanding  a  thing  is  knowing  it 
in  its  relations  to  other  things.  A  thorough  under- 
standing of  a  process,  or  a  method,  or  the  meaning  of 
a  passage,  greatly  aids  the  retention  of  it. 

One  of  the  most  important  facts  in  the  association 
of  ideas  is  the  great  readiness  with  which  we  associate 
sense  purely  mental  states,  especially  strong  cmo- 
Association.  fions,  with  objective  sensations  and  their 
causes.  A  bit  of  landscape,  a  strain  of  music,  a  whiff 
of  perfume,  vividly  suggests  the  circumstances  under 
which  it  was  seen,  or  heard,  or  smelled  before,  and  calls 
up  the  feelings  of  pleasure  or  pain  which  formed  part 
of  our  mental  state  at  the  time.  A  turn  in  the  road,  a 
tree,  a  glimpse  of  running  water,  a  bit  of  landscape,  will 
bring  most  vividly  back  to  our  consciousness  pleasura- 
ble or  painful  events  which  may  have  been  forgotten 
for  years.  When  revisiting  places,  we  live  over  again 
the  experiences  through   which  we  had   passed   there. 


INTELLECT :  REPRESENTATIVE  FACULTY. 


93 


The  suggestive  power  of  music  is  sufficient  instantane- 
ously to  revive  in  consciousness  a  whole  evening's  ex- 
perience at  an  opera,  or  concert,  or  ball :  the  stage,  the 
room,  the  persons,  the  things  we  said  and  did,  —  all  are 
vividly  re-presented.  The  faint  odor  of  a  violet  is  suffi- 
cient to  bring  back  long-gone  days,  with  their  burdens 
of  joy  or  sorrow,  and  make  us  live  them  over  again, 
whether  we  will  or  no.  It  is  related  that  a  locomotive 
engineer  who  had  very  narrowly  escaped  a  terrible  acci- 
dent at  a  certain  place  on  his  run,  was  utterly  unable 
to  command  himself  or  his  engine  afterwards,  at  that 
particular  point,  though  he  was  one  of  the  road's  most 
reliable  men  at  other  times  and  places. 

Sight,  hearing,  and  smell  seem  to  furnish  the  most 
vivid  associational  impressions;  and  taste  and  touch, 
the  least  vivid. 

Applications  to  Teachixo. 

Were  it  not  for  memory,  there  could  be  no  yesterday. 
The  representative  faculty  binds  into  continuity  the  ex- 
periences of  life,  and  gives  substance  and  body  to  the 
consciousness  of  self  and  self's  ever-changing  sameness. 

Our  efforts  to  acquire  knowledge  are  effective  in  pro- 
portion to  our  power  to  retain,  reproduce,  and  recognize 
what  we  have  once  learned. 

All  this  simply  emphasizes  the  strenuous  necessity  of 
developing  the  memory,  of  making  it  retentive,  prompt, 
accurate.  The  teacher  must  plan  exercises  suited  to 
the  different  kinds  of  memory,  verbal  and  logical,  and 
must  conduct  recitations  according  to  the  different  laws 
of  memory.  Hi- must  not  forget  that  different  studies 
have  different  values  in  developing  memory  according 
to  these  laws;  and  he  should  assign  the  work,  and  have 


Q4  PS  YCHOL OGY  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

it  done,  in  each  branch  studied,  so  that  it  shall  best 
produce  the  effect  it  is  specially  adapted  to  bring  about. 

To  make  specific  application  of  these  general  direc- 
tions, some  suggestions  are  here  given. 

The  verbal  memory  may  be  cultivated  by  requiring 
choice  bits  of  literature  within  the  comprehension  of 

specific  the  learner  to  be  memorized  and  recited  prop- 
Suggestions.  erly,  by  having  dialogues  and  declamations  as 
frequent  exercises,  and  by  making  verbatim  reports  of 
important  news  items  an  occasional  feature  of  school 
work.  The  necessity  for  promptitude  and  absolute  ex- 
actness of  memory  in  such  work  must  not  be  forgotten. 
There  must  be  no  slurring  on  words,  no  peeping  in  the 
books,  no  "starting"  with  the  "first  word"  or  "first 
letter." 

It  is  not  advisable  to  insist  upon  verbatim  recitations 
of  regular  lessons,  for  to  understand  is  more  important 
than  to  remember  the  words  used.  Indeed,  the  best  evi- 
dence a  teacher  can  have  that  a  pupil  docs  not  understand 
a  lesson,  is  that  it  is  recited  in  the  exact  language  of  the 
book.  A  pupil  should  rarely,  if  ever,  be  permitted  to 
recite  a  lesson  verbatim,  as  the  text-book  gives  it. 

To  cultivate  the  logical  memory,  exercises  should 
be  given  in  the  why  and  how  of  things,  outside  the 
books  as  well  as  in  them.  Each  faculty  of  the  mind 
helps  the  others;  and  to  cultivate  the  power  to  discern 
relations  (the  judgment)  develops  the  logical  memory. 
The  teacher  should  let  no  opportunity  slip  of  asking 
why  this  was  done,  or  how  that  was  obtained,  in  arith- 
metic ;  of  having  the  pupils  trace  the  connections  and 
causes  of  events  in  history  and  civics;  of  stimulating 
them  to  look  up  for  themselves  the  etymologies  of 
words  met  with  in  their  reading. 


INTELLECT:  REPRESENTATIVE  FACULTY.       95 

Anything  that  strengthens  the  association  of  ideas 
increases  their  chances  of  being  retained.  The  more 
associational  hooks  an  idea  has,  the  better  its  chance  of 
hanging  in  the  memory.  Impressions  gained  through 
eye,  ear,  and  hand,  should  be  associated.  A  word  should 
be  seen,  pronounced,  and  written.  An  object  should  be 
seen,  handled,  and  drawn.  There  should  be  many 
written  lessons,  much  drawing,  and  more  or  less  fre- 
quent manual  exercises. 

Remembering  that  whatever  stimulates  interest  and 
fixes  attention  aids  memory,  the  teacher  should  study 
different  ways  of  putting  things  before  his  classes. 
The  way  in  which  a  fact  is  stated  or  a  question  asked 
often  fixes  a  thing  in  the  memory,  as  a  flash  light  prints 
an  image  on  the  photographic  plate. 

The  several  branches  should  be  so  taught  that  their 
different  laws  of  association  may  have  their  full  effect. 
The  events  of  history  and  the  facts  of  civics  are  to  be 
associated  in  time  and  by  cause ;  concepts  derived  from 
map  study,  map  drawing,  and  map  molding,  should  be 
associated  in  place  ;  new  words  in  reading  must  be  asso- 
ciated with  their  proper  pronunciation  and  meaning; 
the  organs  of  the  body,  as  studied  in  physiology,  will 
be  remembered  in  association  with  their  uses. 

It  is  a  part  of  everyday  experience  that  the  memory 
drops  many  unimportant  details,  and  retains  only  the 
more    valuable    facts.     The    teacher  should 

Many 

therefore  not  present  all  facts  to  his  pupils      Things 
with  equal  vividness,  but  should  select  the    should  be 

*  forgotten. 

centra/  ones,   give    them    preeminence,    and 
group  the  others  around  these.     With  a  single  impor- 
tant fact,  many  associated  details  can  afterward  be  fished 
up  out  of  the  sea  of  subconsciousness.     Give  the  mem- 


96 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


ory  a  firm  and  confident  grasp  of  the  main  thing,  and 
minor  matters  will  largely  take  care  of  themselves. 

The  body  does  not  retain  or  assimilate  all  the  food 
that  goes  into  it ;  neither  does  the  mind  retain  or  assimi- 
late all  the  knowledge  material  that  is  put  into  it.  But 
as,  in  order  to  secure  good  digestion,  the  food  that  goes 
into  the  stomach  should  have  in  it  much  material  that 
cannot  be  assimilated,  but  which  only  serves  to  excite 
the  muscular  and  secretory  organs  of  digestion,  so  the 
facts  that  the  mind  acquires  should  have  with  them 
much  illustrative  material  that  shall  quicken  the  mind's 
retentive  and  assimilative  action. 

Memory,  like  any  other  faculty,  may  be  worked  to 

the  point  of  fatigue.     To  this  point  it  should  never  be 

pushed  in  school  or  elsewhere.     The  normal 

Memory  .     .  f  ..... 

maybe  activity  ot  memory  may  also  be  easily  m- 
fat'guedand  hibited;    and   this   is  allowed   for  by   every 

inhibited.  .  .  . 

generous  examiner,  for  he  knows  that  what 
a  pupil  can  readily  and  accurately  recall  ordinarily,  he 
may  lose  utterly,  for  a  time,  under  the  inhibition  of 
nervous  fear  of  failure.  Under  the  inhibiting  influence 
of  fear  of  threatened  punishment,  a  child  may  hope- 
lessly forget  the  very  thing  he  is  striving  hardest  to 
remember. 

Suggestions  to  the  Teacher. 

(i)  Train  the  judgment  to  select  from  the  mass  of 
material  coming  into  consciousness  those  things  that 
are  worth  remembering,  and  to  establish  some  logical 
connection  between  them  and  what  has  already  been 
learned. 

(2)  Having  secured  the  interested  attention  of  the 
class,  repeat  and  re-repeat,  and  have  the  pupils  repeat, 


IN  TELL  ECT :  REPRESENTA  TIVE  FA  CUL  TV.        gj 

the  central  facts  of  the  lesson,  but  each  time  in  a 
different  icay.  Set  a  fact  in  as  many  different  lights 
as  possible.  It  is  only  varied  repetition  that  helps 
memory. 

(3)  Impress  upon  the  pupils  that  one  careful  reading 
of  a  lesson  is  worth  a  dozen  scurrying  attempts  to 
merely  memorize  the  words. 

(4)  Following  the  law  of  repetition  further,  have 
frequent  reviews, —  review  daily,  weekly,  monthly. 

(5)  Try  to  show  the  kinship  of  all  knowledge,  and 
make  sure  that  the  pupils  understand  what  has  been 
studied,  and  have  linked  to-day's  acquisitions  with  yes- 
terday's. This  can  be  done  only  by  the  most  skillful 
questioning,  for  the  average  pupil  is  so  human  that 
he  will  do  much  to  keep  his  ignorance  hidden. 

(6)  Make  as  many  associations  through  the  senses  as 
possible.  If  an  idea  can  go  into  the  mind,  or  be  made 
to  arise  in  consciousness,  through  all  the  senses,  it  will 
be  more  readily  remembered  than  if  it  is  gained  through 
only  one  or  two. 

(7)  The  memory  for  auditory,  visual,  and  muscular 
impressions,  should  be  especially  cultivated,  for  these 
are  the  most  important.  Ability  to  retain  these,  and 
to  reproduce  them  promptly  and  correctly,  lies  at  the 
core  of  skill ;  and  without  skill  there  can  be  no  practical 
success  in  any  undertaking. 

Roark  Psych. —  7. 


93 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  INTELLECT  :  THE  RELATIONAL  FACULTY. 

The  natural  movements  of  the  mind  are  (i)  to  acquire, 
(2)  to  retain,  (3)  to  correlate.  With  the  presentative 
faculties  it  acquires  ;  with  the  representative  it  retains 
and  recalls  ;  with  the  judgment  it  correlates. 

Judgment,  then,  is  the  relational  faculty,  and  may  be 

defined  in  set  terms  as  the  faculty  by  which  relations  are 

perceived  and  formulated.     It  is  the  thinking 

Judgment.  "  . 

faculty.  Judgment  has  been  variously  called 
the  elaborative  faculty,  the  reflective  faculty,  the  dis- 
criminative and  assimilative  faculty,  the  rational  faculty. 
None  of  these  names  describes  its  essential  function  so 
well  as  the  term  relational. 

Judgment,  intuition,  and  reason  are  synonyms,  being 
simply  different  names  for  the  same  thing.  If  such  a 
distinction  is  admissible,  we  may  say  intuition  is  the 
most  elementary  form  of  judgment.  Judgment  is  to 
some  degree  concerned  in  the  most  elementary  acts  of 
intellection.  In  gaining  percepts,  the  mind  must  be 
aware  of  some  connection  or  relation  between  the  object 
which  affects  the  senses  and  the  mental  state  which  is 
produced.  The  referring  of  resistance  and  color  to  an 
object  is  really  an  elementary  act  of  judgment. 

The  products,  in  order,  of  the  relational  faculty,  are 
percepts,  concepts,  judgments,  arguments.  It  is  usually 
affirmed  that  percepts  are  gained  intuitively,  that  the 


INTELLECT :    RELA  TIONAL   FACULTY. 


99 


mind  immediately  receives,  and  trusts  the  messages  sent 
in  to  it  by  the  senses.     But  if  judgment  and  intuition  are 
identical,  as  it  is  believed  a  close  analysis  will 
show  them  to  be,  the  judgment  is  the  faculty      gained 
by  which  the  impressions  of  sense  are  re-     through 

i-i  i  Judgment. 

ferred  to  the  objects  which  produce  them, 

and  this  is  the  essential  act  in  forming  a  percept. 

As  will  be  shown  later,  concepts  are  formed  by  the 
combination  of  like  percepts,  and  detecting  resemblance 
or  likeness  between  percepts  is  also  an  act  of  judgment. 
As  the  mind  develops,  the  perception  of  differences  in- 
volved in  the  discrimination  of  objects  is  done  by  the 
judgment.  This  perception  of  differences  serves  to  in- 
tensify the  resemblances  upon  which  our  concepts  are 
based.  To  have  arrived  at  the  concept  dog,  the  judg- 
ment must  have  selected  the  points  of  resemblance 
between  animals  designated  by  the  term  dog,  and  have 
combined  these  resemblances  into  one  group.  Every 
time  the  differences  are  noted  between  dogs  and  other 
animals,  the  resemblances  between  dogs  will  become 
more  evident. 

Judgment  is  a  term  used  to  name  the  product  of  the 
relational  faculty  as  well  as  the  faculty  itself.     A  judg- 
ment, as  a  product,  is  the  affirmation  of  some    Judgment 
relation  between  two  or  more  concepts,  or  defined  as  a 

,  i  t       Product. 

between  concepts  and  percepts;  as  when  I 
say,  "The  dog  is  an  animal,"  "The  lion  is  carnivorous," 
"It  will  rain  to-night."  In  these  three  propositions, 
relations  are  affirmed  between  the  concepts  dog  and 
animal,  Hon  and  carnivorous,  and  between  the  percep- 
tion of  the  weather  as  it  now  is,  and  the  previous  con- 
cept 1  have  formed  of  the  conditions  likely  to  produce 
rain. 


I OO  PS  YCHOLOG  V  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

Argument  is  the  combination  of  two  or  more  judg- 
ments in  order  to  reach  some  final  judgment  which  is 
called  a  conclusion.  It  is  the  province  of  logic  fully  to 
discuss  the  combination  of  judgments.  Some  notice 
will  be  taken  of  it  in  Chapter  XV. 

The  work  of  judgment  may  be  summarized  as  follows: 

Perceiving'  relation   between  a  sense    impression  and 

,    the  object  which  produces  it,  is  necessary  in 

Summary  of  J  x  _ 

Functions  of  forming  a  percept;  perceiving  some  relation 
judgment.  or  relations  between  percepts  is  necessary  in 
the  process  of  conception ;  perceiving  some  relation  be- 
tween concepts  is  necessary  in  forming  a  judgment ;  per- 
ceiving some  relation  between  two  or  more  judgments 
is  necessary  in  constructing  an  argument.  It  is  in  every 
case  the  special  function  of  the  relational  faculty,  or 
judgment,  to  perceive  these  relations.  It  is  judgment 
that  compares,  contrasts,  selects,  combines,  and  thus 
reaches  conclusions  and  forms  opinions. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  there  are  different  forms 
of  judgment,  but  that  there  are  different  ways  in  which 

Kinds  of  judgment  manifests  itself.  We  may  speak 
judgment.  0f  an  accurate  or  inaccurate  judgment,  of  an 
impartial  or  biased  judgment,  of  a  moral  judgment,  an 
.-esthetic  judgment,  and  so  on;  but  these  terms  simply 
serve  to  name  the  ways  in  which  the  relational  faculty 
works,  or  the  kinds  of  ideas  with  which  it  works. 

In  order  that  judgment  may  do  its  work  accurately 
and  the  result  may  be  trustworthy,  there  must  be  cor- 
rect   observation,  reliable   memory,  and   the 

Conditions 

of  Accurate  absence  of  personal  bias  or  vivid  emotion. 

ju  gmg.      ||)(    elements  that  tend  to  secure  accuracy 

in  judging  are,  (i)  an  abundance  of  clear  concepts;  (2) 

exact   reproduction  of  these  by  memory;   (3)  freedom 


INTELLECT:    RELATIONAL  FACULTY.  101 

from  prejudice  ;   (4)  the  judicial  temper,  which   means 
the  habit  of  looking  on  all  sides  of  a  question  equally. 

Defective  judging  is  due  to  careless  observation;  to 
unreliable  memory,  which  does  not  marshal  all  our 
experiences  when  needed  ;  to  some  personal  bias  in- 
herited or  acquired  ;  and  to  the  presence  of  strong  feel- 
ing. No  one  can  judge  in  a  purely  impersonal  way; 
what  is  called  the  personal  equation  must  be  taken  into 
account  in  every  decision  of  judgment. 

Judgment  is  a  measurer,  and  there  must  be  some 
standard  with  which  to  measure.  This  standard  is 
made  up  of  our  experiences  in  any  given  jUdgmenta 
direction.  Every  act  of  judgment  implies  Measurer, 
a  comparison  between  some  impression  of  sense,  or 
concept,  or  proposed  line  of  action,  with  some  other 
impression  already  felt,  or  concept  already  formed,  or 
some  experience  already  gained,  that  is  to  be  used  as  a 
standard.  While  hearing  a  sermon  or  lecture,  while 
reading  an  article  or  book,  judgment  is  or  should  be 
constantly  at  work,  measuring  what  is  heard  or  read  by 
some  standard  which  we  have  established  for  ourselves. 
As  a  teacher  hears  a  recitation,  he  must  constantly 
compare  what  is  being  done  with  what  he  conceives  to 
be  an  ideal  recitation,  in  order  to  judge  of  the  value  of 
his  teaching;  and  each  answer  must  be  compared  with 
(measured  by)  a  standard  answer,  in  order  to  test  the 
correctness  of  the  pupil's  knowledge,  and  his  ability  to 
express  it. 

Common  sense  is  the  name  given   in   popular  speech 
to  a  sound  and  reliable  judgment.      It  is  un- 
fortunately true  that  "common  "  sense  is  one      sense" ° 
of  the  most  uncommon  things  in  the  world ! 

When  we  say  good  common  sense  is  a  safe  guide,  we 


1 02  PS  YCHOLOG  ) '  /X  ED  UCA  TIOX. 

mean  that  judgment,  acting  free  of  personal  bias,  and 
basing  its  conclusions  on  those  experiences  of  the  indi- 
vidual which  he  has  in  common  with  mankind,  reaches 
conclusions  that  can  be  trusted.  Common  sense  seems 
to  be  automatic  judgment.  It  is  often  met  with  in 
wholesome-minded  persons  who  have  had  no  formal 
education,  but  who  have  a  valuable  fund  of  experience 
and  a  ready  and  correct  perception  of  relations.  Such 
people  are  frequently  not  able  to  give  logical  reasons 
for  their  decisions,  and  are  said  to  reach  conclusions 
intuitively.  It  is  a  subject  of  frequent  remark  that 
many  formally  educated  people  have  but  little  common 
sense  :  their  conduct  is  not  marked  by  judicious  action 
in  everyday  affairs. 

The  fact  that  a  man  may  decide  correctly  with  a  cer- 
tain class  of  facts  before  him,  while  he  may  reach  only 
erroneous  conclusions  in  other  matters,  simply  gives  ad- 
ditional force  to  what  was  said  above,  —  that  judgment 
must  use  some  standard  formed  out  of  consciously  ac- 
quired experience.  A  man's  judgment  may  be  almost 
infallible  in  the  buying  and  selling  of  horses,  but  utterly 
untrustworthy  in  speculating  in  railway  stocks.  The 
judgment  of  the  collegian  may  be  accurate  in  those 
tilings  in  which  he  has  been  educated,  but  worthless  in 
the  common  relations  of  life.  So  apt  is  this  to  be  the 
case,  that  it  is  frequently  remarked  by  those  who  lack 
school  training,  that  such  a  one  "  has  plenty  of  book 
learning,  but  might}'  little  common  sense."  The  man 
of  experience  has  usually  a  deep  distrust  of  the  man  of 
books,  sometimes  not  unminglcd  with  a  sort  of  con- 
tempt. But  it  is  the  distinctive  characteristic  of  mod- 
ern education  that  it  is  doing  much  to  remove  the 
ground  of  this  distrust   and  contempt,  by  giving  the 


INTELLECT:    KELATIOXAL  FACULTY. 


103 


mind  an  all-round  development  and  training,  and  by 
connecting  book  study  with  hand  study.  As  formal  edu- 
cation approximates  the  true  standard,  the  "  self-made" 
man  cannot  compete  with  the  college-made  one. 

Tact  is  another  name  given  to  a  form  of  common  sense. 
It  means  the  ability  to  perceive  the  "  fitness  of  things," 
and  to  adjust  one's  self  to  it.  The  tactless  person  is 
constantly  tangling  himself  up  in  the  relations  of  things, 
as  an  awkward  man  does  in  the  dress  trails  and  curtain 
draperies  and  rugs  at  a  social  gathering.  The  tactful 
person  seems  to  feel  what  is  best  to  say  or  to  do,  or 
leave  unsaid  or  undone,  in  his  intercourse  with  others. 
Everybody  likes  him,  and  is  soothed  by  his  presence. 
Tact  is  simply  common  sense  mixed  with  sympathetic 
observation.  It  is  one  of  the  most  practically  valuable 
elements  in  the  mental  equipment  of  the  successful 
man  or  woman.  From  lack  of  it,  many  a  man  has 
ruined  a  promising  career,  many  a  woman  has  become 
socially  "  impossible,"  through  careless  or  ignorant 
neglect  of  others'  feelings,  or  of  the  conventions  of 
society,  which,  though  trifling,  are  as  fixed  as  law. 

The  aesthetic  judgment,  more  commonly  called  the 
(esthetic  taste,  is  the  judgment  at  work  with  those  per- 
cepts and  concepts  that  excite  the  feeling  of  Esthetic 
the  beautiful.  All  races  and  all  individuals  Judgment. 
have  the  love  of  the  beautiful :  it  is  common  to  all  man- 
kind, and  there  is  reason  for  thinking  that  it  is  shared  by 
animals  lower  than  man.  But  the  objects  that  excite 
the  feeling  are  as  various  as  the  races  and  conditions 
of  men.  The  aesthetic  feelings  will  be  considered  in  a 
later  chapter. 

The  aesthetic  judgment,  or  taste,  is  manifested  in  the 
selection  of  objects  that  arouse  the  sense  of  the  beautiful. 


104 


PSYCHOLOGY  I  1ST  EDUCA  TION. 


One  person  admires  one  thing ;  another,  something  quite 
different.  When  we  say  of  some  one  that  he  has  "  poor 
taste,"  we  mean  usually  that  he  does  not  judge  of  beauty 
by  the  standards  we  use.  The  African  belle  makes  holes 
in  her  nose  and  lips,  in  which  to  hang  ornaments;  the 
Caucasian  belle  thinks  the  holes  and  the  ornaments 
look  better  in  her  ears.  The  uncultured  man  will  buy 
flaming  chromos  for  his  walls,  and  gaudy  carpets  for  his 
floors,  because  he  admires  them  more  than  the  work  of 
the  best  artists  and  the  finest  products  of  the  loom. 
Good  taste,  or  the  lack  of  it,  is  shown  in  the  dress,  the 
house  interior,  the  decorations  of  the  office,  the  school- 
room, the  shop. 

The  aesthetic  taste  is  best  cultivated  by  means  of 
artistic  environment.  In  ancient  Athens,  even  the  day 
laborers  were  competent  art  critics,  because  they  lived 
from  infancy  in  an  atmosphere  of  art  that  was  the 
glory  of  Greece.  Beautiful  parks,  handsome  build- 
ings, and  rich  galleries  of  paintings  and  sculptures 
should  be  among  the  means  used  by  every  city  to  cul- 
tivate the  aesthetic  tastes  of  its  citizens. 

Moral  judgment  is  the  relational  faculty  at  work  in 
matters  of  ethics.  By  it  all  human  conduct  is  directed. 
Moral  In  the  exercise  of  moral  judgment,  some  pro- 
judgment.  pOSC(j  course  of  action  is  put  alongside  the 
standard  of  right  which  we  have  formed  as  the  result 
of  experience  and  training;  and  the  relation  between 
what  we  are  solicited  to  do  and  this  standard  of  right 
is  then  perceived  by  the  judgment.  I  lowever  fallible  it 
may  be,  each  man's  judgment  must,  in  morals  and  in 
everything  else,  be  his  court  of  final  appeal.  Each  of 
us  must  do  th.it  which  his  own  judgment  affirms  to  be 
right.  It  will  be  seen  later  that  there  is,  strictly  speak- 
ing, no  such  thing  as  conscience  "guiding  and  dictat- 


IN  TELLEC  T :    RE  LA  TIONA  L  FA  CUL  T  Y. 


105 


ing :  "  it  is  judgment  that  guides  and  dictates  in  matters 
of  right  and  wrong,  as  in  all  other  matters,  while  con- 
science lays  upon  us  the  obligation  to  do  what  judgment 
judgment  affirms  to  be  right.  I  may  counsel  the  Guide- 
with  my  friend  in  whom  I  place  great  confidence,  and 
get  his  opinion  as  to  the  Tightness  or  wrongness  of  a 
proposed  line  of  conduct,  and  I  may  in  the  end  adopt 
his  suggestions  and  follow  his  advice.  But  it  is  due  to 
my  own  judgment,  in  the  first  place,  that  I  go  to  this 
friend  rather  than  to  some  other,  or  that  I  recognize 
his  wisdom  as  superior  to  my  own  ;  and,  unless  I  have 
formed  the  dangerous  habit  of  letting  other  people  do 
my  thinking  for  me,  I  shall  submit  his  advice  to  my  own 
judgment  before  acting  upon  it. 

Belief  is  the  mind's  confidence  in  the  correctness  of 
its  own  decisions  of  judgment,  is  the  conscious  accept- 
ance of  a  judgment  as  true,  as  expressing  Belief 
real  relations.  All  intelligent  action  is  based  and  Doubt, 
on  belief.  People  do  not  willingly  and  intelligently  do 
what  they  disbelieve:  all  their  deliberate  actions  con- 
form to  belief,  unless  they  are  hypocrites. 

Doubt  and  disbelief  are  inherent  in  some  natures  to 
a  morbid  degree.  But  the  presence  of  some  doubt  is 
a  sign  of  mental  health  :  judgment  is  suspended  until 
more  knowledge  is  obtained.  Doubt  may  temporarily 
paralyze  action,  but  it  should  stimulate  mental  activity 
in  the  search  for  more  and  convincing  facts  upon  which 
to  base  a  conclusion.  The  best  remedy  for  doubt  of 
any  kind,  religious  or  other,  is,  of  course,  more  knowl- 
edge. The  more  facts  we  have,  the  greater  is  the  oppor- 
tunity for  seeing  them  in  their  right  relations,  and 
therefore  the  less  the  room  left  for  doubt.  Correct  in- 
formation and  the  judicial  temper  are  the  surest  cure 
for  disbelief  or  uncertainty. 


1 06  ps  ychol  ogy  in  ed  uca  tion. 

Applications  to  Teaching. 

Judgment,  being  the  faculty  which  above  all  others 
shows  us  the  zvay  to  live,  should  receive  a  most  thorough 
and  careful  training.  There  is  more  need  now  than 
ever  before  of  the  citizen  of  independent  thought  in 

„    ,   r     politics,  in  religion,  in  education.     There  are 

Need  of       *  '  o  » 

Accurate  more  things  to  discriminate  between,  there 
gmen  .  jg  more  knowledge  to  sift  and  select  from, 
there  are  more  theories  to  test,  more  errors  to  avoid, 
than  ever  before.  And  all  this  is  distinctively  work 
{ox  judgment.  If  the  schools  would  train  for  citizen- 
ship,  would  build  young  manhood  and  womanhood, 
they  must  look  to  the  training  of  that  faculty  which 
works  with  the  relations  of  things ;  for  no  fact  is  valua- 
ble in  itself,  but  only  as  related  to  other  facts.  Even 
the  existence  of  Deity  (be  it  said  reverently)  is  of  value 
to  us  only  as  it  is  related  to  us,  and  we  to  it. 

The  teacher  should  spend  much  effort  in  the  direc- 
tion of  getting  his  pupils  to  think  for  themselves.  They 
should  be  permitted  in  many  matters  to  follow  out  their 
own  conclusions.  It  is  only  by  trying  and  falling  that 
the  child  learns  to  walk  ;  it  is  only  by  judging  and  test- 
ing the  conclusions,  that  the  boy  or  girl  comes  to  inde- 
pendent, self-reliant  manhood  and  womanhood.  The 
age  of  six  or  seven  is  not  too  early  for  children  to  be 
thrown  upon  their  own  responsibility  in  minor  matters. 
The  law  of  use  is  as  valid  in  Jhe  case  of  judgment  as  in 
the  case  of  memory  or  muscle. 

A  child  over  five  years  of  age  lias  a  right  to  be 
treated  as  a  rational  being  by  both  parents  and  teacher. 

Rational     Children  obey  more  readily  when   told  why 

obedience.   the\-  are  requested   or  commanded  to  do  a 

thing,  and,  being  thus  taught  that  obedience  rests  upon 


INTELLECT:  RELATIONAL  FACULTY.  107 

a  rational  basis,  they  will  the  more  cheerfully  obey  in 
those  cases  in  which  it  is  inexpedient  to  explain  to  them 
the  reason  for  the  command.  Requiring  rational  obedi- 
ence from  the  children  will  be  an  excellent  discipline 
for  the  parents  too,  since  it  will  make  them  sure  they 
have  a  reasonable  basis  for  their  commands  to  their 
children.  There  must,  of  course,  be  implicit  obedience ; 
but  it  should  be  intelligent,  and  commands  should  not 
be  whimsical  and  arbitrary.  To  demand  "  unquestion- 
ing" obedience  in  all  cases  is  absurd  and  wrong. 

The  training  of  the  aesthetic  judgment  will  be  further 
treated  in  Chapter  X.;  of  the  non-ethical  judgment, 
in  Chapter  XV.  It  only  remains,  then,  to  say  a  brief 
word  concerning  the  training  of  the  ethical  or  moral 
judgment.  The  full  discussion  of  this  falls  within  the 
division  of  psychology  once  called  "  moral  philosophy," 
but  now  usually  termed  "  ethics." 

Spencer  has  left  little  to  be  said  on  the  subject  of 
moral  education.  According  to  him,  the  child's  moral 
nature  should  be  educated  through  the  per-     „    .  . 

o  c  Training 

ception  of  cause  and  effect;  that  is,  the  child  of  Ethical 
should  be  first  taught  to  understand  that  gmen 
physical  pain  inevitably  follows  physical  transgression; 
and  from  this  he  may  be  brought  later  to  conclude  that 
spiritual  suffering  will  more  or  less  immediately  and 
inevitably  follow  moral  transgression.  The  value  of 
this  method  becomes  the  more  apparent  when  it  is 
remembered  that  physical  transgression  is  usually  a 
moral  transgression;  that  is,  the  same  thing  that  makes 
spiritual  transgression  wrong  —a  knowledge  of  its  evil 
consequences  —  makes  physical  transgression  wrong. 
The  child  must  acquire  ethical  ideas  by  learning  from 
experience,  as  well  as  from  precept,  what  constitutes 


I08  PSYCHOLOGY  Ih    EDUCATION. 

the  Tightness  or  wrongness  of  his  physical  and  spiritual 
acts.  He  must  acquire  moral  ideas  as  he  acquires  any 
other  kind ;  and  the  process  of  basing  conduct  upon 
judgments  drawn  from  these  is  the  same  as  the  process 
of  acting  upon  conclusions  drawn  from  other  kinds  of 
ideas.  The  child  must  learn  from  experience  the  rela- 
tion between  the  careless  handling  of  a  knife  and  the 
pain  of  a  cut ;  between  playing  with  fire  and  the  conse- 
quent burn  ;  between  unhygienic  eating  and  the  result- 
ing digestive  disturbance  ;  between  selfishness,  lying, 
petty  dishonesty,  and  the  distrust  and  aversion  with 
which  teacher  and  companions  regard  him.  If  the  child 
be  taught  rationally  to  observe  such  relations,  his  moral 
judgment  becomes  quickened,  and  many  of  his  wrong 
tendencies  can  be  made  to  correct  themselves.  If  pun- 
ishment must  be  given  by  the  teacher,  it  should  in  every 
case,  as  far  as  possible,  be  made  to  appear  to  the  child 
as  the  natural  and  logical  consequence  of  his  wrong 
doing.  Punishment  that  seems  merely  arbitrary  to  the 
child,  for  which  he  cannot  see  a  sufficient  reason,  has  an 
effect  upon  character  directly  contrary  to  what  is  desired. 
The  highest  result  of  character  building  is  to  make 
the  individual  understand  and  feel,  that,  to  live  the 
happiest  and  best  life,  he  must  live  it  in  harmony  with 
God's  laws,  both  physical  and  spiritual,  and  that  dis- 
comfort and  unhappiness  are  the  inevitable  results  of 
transgression. 


THE  IXTELLECT :    IMAGINATION. 


IOQ 


CHAPTER   IX. 

THE  INTELLECT:   IMAGINATION. 

IMAGINATION  is  usually  discussed  as  both  a  repre- 
sentative and  a  creative  faculty.  But  it  seems  clear  that 
representation  is  no  function  of  imagination.  To  re- 
present is  the  business  of  memory.  Surely  some  line  of 
demarcation  can  be  established  between  these  two 
faculties  which  will  prevent  confusion  of  thought.  I 
do  not  imagine  what  I  have  seen,  or  heard,  , 

0  '    Imagination 

or  felt,  or  thought,  or  willed  :  I  remember  not  Repre- 
these  things.  If  the  thing  remembered  hap-  sentatlve- 
pens  to  be  an  image,  it  is  not  to  be  taken  as  something 
which  imagination  brought  up.  Actual  visual  percep- 
tion of  an  object  put  the  image  of  that  object  in  the 
mind,  and  memory  brings  it  into  consciousness  again. 
Imagination  has  nothing  to  do  with  it,  unless  to  modify 
in  some  way  the  image  recalled.  Imagination  may 
construct  an  image,  may  build  something  out  of  sense 
percepts,  or  concepts;  but  this  creation  once  formed  is 
not  reproduced  in  consciousness  by  imagination  —  that 
is  work  for  memory. 

Imagination  can  and  does  aid  in  the  acquirement  of 
sense  percepts.  For  instance,  my  percept  of  a  cylinder 
is  clearer  if  I  can,  through  imagination,  see  the  other 
side  and  both  ends  of  the  figure  at  the  same  time  my 
eyes  are  perceiving  the  side  presented  to  them. 


IIO  ps v ciio log  y  in  ed i tca  tion. 

The  term  image  commonly  suggests  visual  percepts  ; 
but  it  may  be  used  also  to  name  other  percepts.  We 
properly  speak  of  auditory  images,  tactile  images,  etc., 
by  which  we  mean  either  the  remembered  percepts 
originally  gained  through  the  senses,  or  the  combina- 
tions of  these  which  are  formed  by  imagination. 

The  difference  between  memory  and  imagination  is 

shown  in  the  difference  between  a  remembered  sensa- 

Difference    tion  and  an   imagined  one.     The  former  is 

between     dim,  dull,  and  seems  to  be  a  kind  of  echo  in 

Imagination  .  .  . 

and  consciousness.  I  he  latter  is  lull,  intense, 
Memory.  anci  so  reaj  sometimes  that  the  correspond- 
ing end  organ  of  sensation  is  affected  as  by  an  outside 
stimulus.  This  is  illustrated  in  the  musician's  common 
trick  of  closing  a  piece  in  constantly  diminishing  loud- 
ness of  sound  until  the  music  dies  away  altogether  and 
leaves  the  auditor  imagining  he  still  hears  the  notes 
after  they  have  ceased.  The  auditory  image  thus  pro- 
duced is  much  more  real  and  present  to  consciousness 
than  remembered  music.  A  simple  geometrical  figure 
can  be  so  vividly  imagined,  that  it  will  seem  to  be 
actually  projected  upon  the  field  of  vision,  or  upon  the 
inner  surface  of  the  lid  when  the  eyes  are  closed.  Both 
natural  aptitude  and  education  determine  what  sensa- 
tions are  best  imagined  in  any  individual  case.  The 
musician  imagines  new  combinations  of  tones  and  melo- 
dies; the  painter,  new  combinations  of  colors;  the  per- 
fumer, new  odors. 

There  is  also  wide  variation  in  the  ability  of  different 
persons  to  remember  the  percepts  of  the  several  senses. 
One  will  readily  recall  visual  images,  but  not  auditory; 
another  can  easily  remember  tactile  or  muscular,  but 
not  visual  ones.     These  facts  are   expressed  in  every- 


THE  INTELLECT:   IMAGINATION.  \\\ 

day  language  when  we  say  of  one  person,  "he  has  a 
good  eye  for  form  ;  "  of  another,  "  he  has  an  ear  for 
music."  In  the  great  majority  of  cases,  however,  visual 
images  are  much  more  readily  imagined  and  remem- 
bered than  any  others. 

Memory  and  imagination  work  in  close  association; 
and  each  helps  the  other,  but  neither  does  the  other's 
work.      Imagination   helps  to  fix  a  percept 

1  l        Imagination 

or  concept  in  memory  by  making  it  com-  aids 
pleter  and  clearer;  and  often,  when  memory  Memory- 
but  dimly  recalls  some  matter  of  past  experience,  im- 
agination offers  various  modifications  and  additions, 
until  perhaps  the  right  combination  is  made,  and  the 
result  is  recognized  as  a  correct  representation  of  the 
thing  which  was  at  first  but  dimly  reproduced.  Even 
in  such  cases,  the  imagination  does  not  reproduce,  but 
merely  adds  to  or  alters  what  has  been  recalled,  until  a 
combination  is  made  which  consciousness  recognizes 
as  correct.  This  work  of  imagination  is  precisely  like 
that  of  a  friend  who,  when  we  are  suffering  from  a 
temporary  lapse  of  memory,  suggests  words  to  us  until 
some  happy  similarity  of  sound  causes  the  word  we  are 
trying  to  recall  to  become  distinct  in  consciousness. 
Memory,  in  turn,  furnishes  materials  out  of  which  im- 
agination builds  its  products. 

Memory  reproduces.  Imagination  modifies,  combines, 
creates.  It  modifies  when  it  merely  makes  some  change 
in  an  idea  or  a  percept,  without  altering  its  imagination 
essential  form  or  character;  it  combines  when  defined- 
it  puts  two  or  more  percepts  or  concepts  together  to  pro- 
duce something  characteristically  different  from  either 
of  them  ;  and  this  combination  in  its  highest  forms  is 
creation,  the  difference  being  one  of  degree  rather  than 


\\2  PS  YCHOL  OG  V  /. V  ED  UCA  TION. 

of  kind.  Imagination  is  creative  when  its  products  are 
unlike  any  actual  reality,  when  the  combination  of  per- 
cepts or  concepts  is  so  thorough  that  they  are  fused 
together  into  a  harmonious  whole  distinctively  different 
from  any  other  thing.  Imagination  can  create  no  new 
material :  it  builds  new  things  out  of  materials  already 
furnished  by  the  perceptives  and  memory.  An  artist 
may  paint  a  face  more  regular  and  beautiful  in  form 
and  feature  than  any  real  face,  but  analysis  will  show  it 
not  to  contain  any  new  facial  element.  The  poet  or 
the  essayist  may  put  two  or  more  familiar  concepts 
together  so  we  shall  see  totally  new  relations  between 
them.  This  is  the  essence  of  literary  art.  Van  Norden 
attributes  this  sort  of  work  to  the  highest  activity  of 
the  elaborative  judgment,  which  perceives  these  deeper 
and  more  significant  relations.  It  is  not  easy  to  dis- 
tinguish between  the  highest  work  of  judgment  and  the 
highest  work  of  imagination ;  and  this  serves  to  illus- 
trate the  essential  unity  of  mind,  — -that  no  one  faculty 
can  work  alone,  the  mind  works  as  a  whole.  But  judg- 
ment cannot  act  until  thought  objects  are  before  it,  then 
it  perceives  relations.  It  is  the  peculiar  office  of  crea- 
tive imagination  to  set  objects  before  judgment  in  a 
new   way. 

Imagination  has  various  forms,  or  rather  various  ways 

of  manifesting  its  activity.      The  lowest  is  perhaps  what 

is  called  fancy  or  fantasy.     It  is  imagination 

Fantasy.  ,    .  ,  .  .. 

freed  from  the  restraint  of  will  and  the  criti- 
cism of  judgment.  It  is  commonest  in  daydreaming 
and  reverie,  when  we  give  ourselves  up  to  the  current 
of  remembrance,  while  fancy  plays  with  the  contents  of 
consciousness,  and  colors  them  with  the  tints  of  unreal- 
it}-,  or  combines  them  into  fantastic  or  grotesque  forms. 


THE  INTELLECT :   IMAGINATION.  113 

But  even  fancy  may  become  creative,  and  give  such 
results  as  the  "Arabian  Nights,"  "Gulliver's  Travels," 
"  She,"  and  that  exquisite  bit  of  fantastic  composition, 
the  "  Culprit  Fay."  Fantasy  is  usually  characteristic 
of  the  idle  mind  :  it  requires  effort  to  direct  imagina- 
tion by  the  will,  and  test  its  products  by  judgment.  No 
effort  is  required  for  the  "  play  "-of  fancy.  It  is  note- 
worthy that  this  is  the  only  faculty  whose  activity  can 
be  called  play.  For  this  reason,  among  others,  it  may 
become  dangerous.  Permitted  to  run  riot,  imagination 
becomes  narcotic,  and  is  almost  as  dangerous  Danger  of 
as  opium  or  hasheesh.  The  victim  seeks  ready  Fancy. 
escape  from  the  unpleasant  realities  of  life  in  the  glow- 
ing presentations  of  fancy  :  he  may  set  as  deliberately 
to  work  as  the  opium  smoker  to  build  for  himself  pal- 
aces and  gardens  of  enchantment.  A  person  will  come 
out  of  such  an  orgy  of  imagination  dazed  in  mind  and 
even  physically  stupefied,  as  by  the  fumes  of  a  drug. 
The  difference  between  the  sane  man  and  the  insane 
one  is,  that  the  latter  looks  upon  the  products  of  his 
fantasy  as  real,  the  former  is  aware  of  their  unreality. 
In  widest  contrast  with  fancy  is  what  may  be  called 
the  practical  imagination.  Its  work  is  narrowly  limited 
to  modifying  and  combining  the  facts  of  ex-  practicai 
perience  so  as  to  produce  ideas  only  slightly  imagination, 
different  from  what  the  mind  is  accustomed  to.  Plain, 
"practical"  men  have  this  type  of  imagination:  they 
cannot  to  any  considerable  degree  modify  their  con- 
cepts, whether  freshly  gained,  or  remembered.  Such 
men  are  always  intensely  conservative,  not  being  able  to 
picture  vividly  anything  different  from  their  own  expe- 
riences. They  adapt  themselves  slowly  to  any  new  en- 
vironment. We  sometimes  grow  impatient  with  these 
Roark  Psych.—  8. 


114 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


people,  but  they  are  very  necessary  to  stability  of  type 
in  race  or  government.  They  are  the  balance  wheel 
of  the  social  machine,  and  serve  to  regulate  and  correct 
the  too  strenuous  action  of  the  over-zealous  in  politics, 
in  religion,  and  in  education.  Lack  of  imagination  is 
often  mistaken  for  sound  common  sense,  and  it  does 
often  produce  the  same  results.  Too  vivid  imagination 
becomes  unpractical,  sees  too  many  visions  and  dreams 
too  many  dreams,  leaving  nothing  alone  long  enough  for 
it  to  become  an  integral  and  permanent  part  of  a  stead- 
fast individual  or  national  life. 

At  the  same  time,  it  must  be  remembered  that  if  it 
were  not  for  imagination,  improvements  in  the  arts  and 

value  of  sciences,  and  therefore  in  the  general  condi- 
imagination.  ^[on  0f  peoples,  would  be  due  wholly  to  acci- 
dent. If  nothing  could  be  pictured  as  different  from 
what  it  is,  nothing  better  than  what  now  is  could  be 
possible,  except  as  fortunate  chance  might  bring  about 
changes.  There  is  no  occupation  of  life  which  may  not 
be  the  better  followed  with  the  aid  of  imagination. 
The  ditch  digger  who  can  see  the  effect  of  his  next 
blow  before  it  is  struck  ;  the  bricklayer  who  can  see  the 
next  brick  in  position  before  it  is  placed  ;  the  black- 
smith who  can  shape  the  bar  to  the  ideal  which  he  pro- 
jects upon  the  anvil,  —  these  do  far  better  work  than 
those  who  can  see  nothing  but  their  memory  images  or 
the  things  actually  before  them. 

He  is  the  successful  surgeon  who  can,  in  any  un- 
usual case,  accurately  foresee  the  steps  in  the  operation 
he  is  to  perform,  from  the  first  touch  of  the  knife  to 
the  final  dressing  of  the  wound.  He  is  the  successful 
lawyer  who  can  vividly  portray  to  a  jury  scenes  and 
conditions  he  has  never  himself  witnessed,  but  which 


THE  INTELLECT:    IMAGINATION. 


115 


he  believes  to  have  been  the  setting  for  his  client's 
conduct.  He  is  the  successful  preacher  who  can  draw- 
vital  ideals  of  the  ethical  life,  models  of  human  charac- 
ter and  action. 

In  all  those  who  most  succeed  in  swaying  men  by 
what  they  write  or  say,  there  is  a  strong  sympathy 
mingled  with  imagination.  The  sympathetic  sympathetic 
imagination  enables  its  possessor  to  put  him-  imagination. 
self  at  the  standpoint  of  his  hearers  or  readers,  or  to 
present  his  own  standpoint  so  forcibly  that  they  will 
be  brought  to  see  things  as  he  sees  them.  No  one 
has  more  need  of  this  sympathetic  imagination  than 
the  teacher.  He  must  establish  between  himself  and 
his  pupils  magnetic  currents  of  understanding  that 
will  enable  him  to  see  with  the  learner's  eyes,  and 
feel  with  the  learner's  feelings.  In  no  other  way  can 
the  teacher  put  himself  at  the  center  of  the  pupil's 
difficulties,  and  undo  the  tangles  for  him.  The  teacher 
must  be  in  the  highest  sense  a  mind  reader:  this  he 
cannot  be,  except  as  he  can,  through  sympathetic  im- 
agination, create  in  his  own  mind  the  conditions  that 
exist  in  the  mind  of  the  pupil. 

A  popular  supposition  is  that  the  poet,  the  novelist, 
and  the  artist  have  the  greatest  need  of  imagination. 
But  the  creative  imagination  of  the  writer  or  the 
sculptor  differs  from  that  of  the  engineer  or  the  scien- 
tist only  in  the  directon  and  purposes  of  its  activity. 
As  the  writer  must  put  words  together  so  they  will  say 
out  to  others  the  deep-lying  and  unsuspected  relations 
of  the  things  they  name,  so  must  the  engineer  ,       .    .. 

°  J  o  Imagination 

put  together  truss  and  beam  and  girder  so   in  Art  and 
they  shall    express  the   ideal  structure   pre- 
figured in  his  imagination.     As  the  sculptor  must  see 


I  1 6  PS  YCHOL OGY  IN  ED  I TCA  TION. 

in  the  rough  block  of  marble  the  form  of  immortal  grace 
which  his  creative  thought  has  placed  there,  before  he 
has  struck  a  blow  upon  his  chisel,  so  must  the  true 
scientist  project  from  his  imagination  the  connected 
story  and  work  history  of  rock  and  raindrop,  of  atom 
and  abysmal  ocean  depth.  In  a  true  sense  the  scien- 
tific imagination  is  poetic  and  artistic.  Science  of  the 
right  sort  does  not  stop  with  the  mere  observation  and 
classification  of  phenomena,  but  is  ever  trying  to  find 
cause,  an  underlying  unity  for  all  facts.  To  this  end 
creative  mind  works,  picturing  hypotheses,  theories, 
possible  combinations  that  shall  contain  the  law  bind- 
ing all  known  facts  into  harmony.  To  be  a  mere  ob- 
server and  collector  of  facts  is  not  to  be  a  true  scientist. 
The  facts,  of  course,  we  must  have  ;  but  he  who  does 
nothing  but  collect  them  is  only  a  hod  carrier  to  the 
master  builder,  who  takes  them,  and  sets  them,  by  im- 
agination, in  this  combination  and  in  that,  until  he  sees 
at  last  their  real  relations.  Then  the  boundaries  of 
men's  knowledge  are  widened  by  a  world's  breadth, 
and  the  soul  is  filled  with  new  truth. 

The  inventor  is  "  of  imagination  all  compact "  as 
much  as  the  poet.  He  sees  the  completed  machine  at 
inventive  work,  days,  months,  or  years  before  a  model 
imagination.  can  be  constructed.  He  conceives  of  a  pos- 
sible combination  of  mechanical  elements  that  shall 
produce  totally  new  results,  and  forthwith  sets  to  work 
to  embody  the  ideal,  tin:  imagined,  in  the  actual.  The 
modern  typewriter  is  an  excellent  illustration  of  creative 
imagination.  All  its  elements  are  simple  and  familiar, 
—  two  or  three  springs  and  a  few  levers,  —  but  the  com- 
binations of  these  elements,  and  the  results  produced, 
arc  entirely  original,  being  unlike  anything  that  had 


THE  INTELLECT:   IMAGINATION. 


117 


been  seen  before.     A  typewriter  is,  in  a  true  sense,  a 
poem  of  mechanism. 

Imagination  enters  into  and  colors  every  mental  pro- 
cess, and  intensifies  every  feeling.  We  have  seen  how 
it  aids  perception  and  memory;  and  it  is  a  strong  ele- 
ment in  expectant  attention,  —  we  imagine  what  to  ex- 
pect ;  it  gives  power  to  conception,  enabling  us  to  see 
groups  and  classes  of  objects  with  common  qualities, 
or  to  "see"  those  qualities  abstracted  and  unified;  it 
is  the  basis  of  rational  hope,  since  we  hope  for  things 
we  do  not  have,  and  these  we  can  conceive  of  best 
through  imagination;  it  is  a  help  to  judgment,  setting 
things  in  new  lights,  and  shifting  the  point  of  view,  so 
judgment  may  discover  new  relations.  But  above  and 
beyond  all,  it  is  creative,  making  the  new  out  of  the 
old,  showing  possibilities  where  none  was  supposed  to 
exist,  discovering  harmony  where  all  was  chaotic,  blend- 
ing and  unifying  what  was  diverse,  adding  constantly 
to  the  sum  of  wealth,  knowledge,  and  happiness. 


1 1 8  PS  1  'CHOLOG  \ '  IN  ED  CCA  TION. 


CHAPTER    X. 

THE  SENSIBILITIES. 

The  sensibilities  (or  feelings)  are  difficult  to  define, 
but  it  is  perhaps  sufficient  to  say  that  they  are  mental 
states  of  pleasure  and  pain.  They  are  very  complex, 
and  intimately  involved  with  all  aspects  of  the  mental 
life :  consequently  no  hard-and-fast  classification  can  be 
true.  For  convenience  of  reference  and  discussion, 
however,  the  sensibilities  will  here  be  presented  under 
the  three  heads  given  in  Chapter  II., —  the  emotions,  the 
affections,  the  desires.  The  enumeration  made  under 
each  of  these  heads  is  not  intended  to  be  exhaustive, 
but  to  include  only  those  feelings  which  have  the  most 
direct  bearing  upon  the  teacher's  work. 

The  lines  of  demarcation  between  these  three  kinds 

of  feeling  are  indefinite  and  variable,  and  it  is  not  wise 

to  attempt  a  too  discriminating  analysis.     In 

Definitions.  .  ,  .,       -  - 

a  general  way  it  may  be  said  that  the  emo- 
tions are  simple  feelings,  having  no  tendency  in  them- 
selves for  or  against  their  exciting  causes.  The  lan- 
guage of  emotion  is  "  I  feel." 

The  affections  flow  out  toward  the  objects  that  excite 
them,  to  do  them  good  or  ill.  The  language  of  the 
affections  is  "  I  like,"  or  "I  dislike." 

The  desires  flow  out  toward  the  objects  exciting 
them,  accompanied  by  the  wish  to  possess  those  objects. 
The  language  of  desire  is  "  I  want." 


THE  SI.XSIBILITIES. 


The  Emotions. 


119 


The  emotions  admit  of  subdivision  into  (1)  the 
physio-psychic,  or  those  having  their  origin  in  both  body 
and  mind  ;  (2)  the  intellectual,  or  those  arising  solely 
from  mental  causes,  and  affecting  the  intellect  mainly ; 
(3)  the  moral,  or  those  affecting  our  ethical  relations. 

PI i)  steal  Emotions. 

There  seems  to  be  a  more  evident  connection  be- 
tween the  feelings  and  the  physical  condition  than  is 
found  in  the  case  of  any  other  form  of  mental  activity. 
Bodily  states  and  the  sensibilities  act  and  react  upon 
one  another  in  rise  and  fall  like  the  sensitive  mercury 
and  the  atmospheric  column.  Especially  is  this  true  in 
the  case  of  children,  and  adults  in  whom  the  powrer  to 
inhibit  excess  of  feeling  is  not  strong.  We  are  all  the 
time  conscious  of  bodily  states  of  one  kind  or  another, 
comfortable  or  uncomfortable.  If  any  one  of  the  bodily 
organs  does  its  work  defectively,  the  fact  is  registered 
in  consciousness  by  a  disagreeable  feeling  ;  if  all  the 
bodily  organs  are  normal,  and  work  harmoniously,  we 
are  conscious  of  a  diffused  feeling  of  well-being,  there 
is  a  sense  of  vitality  and  health.  Our  consciousness  of 
the  body  as  a  whole  is  called  common  feeling. 

The  emotions  that  arise  out  of  physical  conditions 
and  affect  the  intellect  are  cheerfulness,  melancholy,  anx- 
iety, indifference. 

Cheerfulness  is  one  of  the  natural  attributes  of  health  ; 
but  it,  like  the  other  physio-psychic  emotions,  may  be 
attained  by  purely  mental  effort.  Cheerfulness  is  often 
a  marked  characteristic  of  those  who  suffer  acute  bodily 
pain.     The  etymology  of  melancholy  is  "  black  bile," 


1 20  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IX  ED  UCA  TION. 

but  it  may  arise  from  other  causes  than  a  disordered 
liver,  and  is  often  directly  traceable  to  impaired  nervous 
energy.  Anxiety  and  indifference  are  more  frequently 
attributable  to  mental  than  to  physical  causes;  but 
there  are  forms  of  these  feelings  that  have  their  origin 
in  some  poorly  nourished  or  overworked  or  under- 
worked tissue.  Anxiety,  in  so  far  as  it  is  a  physical 
feeling,  may  be  said  to  result  from  the  restraint  of 
some  natural  bodily  activity.  Indifference  is  usually 
traceable  to  lack  of  blood  supply  or  to  fatigue. 

Cheerfulness  is  a  marked  characteristic  of  the  normal 
child,  and  its  absence  is  one  of  the  surest  indications 
of  ill  health  or  abnormal  temperament.  Melancholy, 
anxiety,  or  indifference,  when  they  arise  from  physical 
conditions,  are  abnormal  in  the  child,  and  must  be 
removed  before  there  can  be  effective  teaching.  Very 
often  they  may  be  remedied  through  the  action  of  the 
mind  upon  the  body ;  and  the  teacher's  contagious 
cheerfulness,  interest,  and  self-control  will  produce  far 
more  marked  and  permanent  effects  than  all  the  physic 
of  the  druggists. 

Intellectual  Emotions. 

Of   the  emotions  of  the  intellect,  surprise,  wonder, 

and  admiration   are   closely    related.      Surprise  is   the 

mental  shock  which  follows  the  presentation 

Surprise. 

of  anything  unexpected,  new,  or  strange,  to 
consciousness.  It  is  the  same  in  kind,  whether  felt  by 
the  infant  who  is  hurt,  or  by  the  scientist  who  stands 
face  to  face  with  some  unexpected  working  of  energy. 
Wonder  is  surprise  somewhat  prolonged  and  made  ex- 
pectant, and  admiration  is  w  <  inder  with  approval  added. 
These  emotions  are  very  vivid  in  children,  and  are 


THE  SENSIBILITIES.  121 

of  great  value  in  making  the  teacher's  work  more  effec- 
tive. A  word,  a  picture,  a  definition,  a  process,  pre- 
sented to  a  class  in  some  unusual  or  unexpected  way, 
produces  a  slight  shock  of  surprise  that  fixes  attention 
as  by  a  magnet.  In  this  fact  is  found  another  reason 
why  the  teacher  should  lay  aside  the  text-book  in  con- 
ducting recitations,  and  use  his  ingenuity  in  presenting 
the  matter  of  the  lessons  in  a  manner  that  will  set  the 
pupils  wondering  "  how  will  the  teacher  begin  the  next 
time."  Writers  and  lecturers  often  give  to  their  books 
and  lectures  titles  that  will  occasion  a  slight  shock  of 
surprise,  and  thus  gain  the  attention  of  the  prospective 
reader  or  auditor.  It  is  easy  to  overdo  the  matter, 
however,  and  by  falling  into  the  grotesque  to  defeat 
the  purpose  in  view.  Judiciously  used,  surprise  is  a  le- 
gitimate and  valuable  element  in  spoken  and  written 
expression.  The  good  effect  of  an  apt  way  of  express- 
ing a  thing  is  due  to  the  feeling  of  surprise,  often  min- 
gled with  admiration,  which  a  neatly  turned  phrase  ex- 
cites in  the  hearer  or  reader. 

Admiration  is  an  effective  aid  in  ethical  training,  as 
it  awakens,  and  blends  with,  the  desire  to  be  like  the 
person   admired,  and   to   imitate   his  deeds. 

Admiration. 

Admiration  leads  to  emulation,  a  generous 
rivalry,  and  in  the  hands  of  an  intelligent  teacher  is  a 
powerful  stimulus.  It  is  to  this  feeling,  so  readily 
aroused  in  the  young,  that  biography  owes  its  value 
in  moral  training.  Parent  and  teacher  should  very 
early  give  the  child  some  account  of  men  and  women 
of  noble  character  and  great  achievement. 

Happiness  and  sorrow  are  the  sunshine  and  shadow 
of  childhood.  Every  child  has  an  inalienable  birth- 
right to  happiness.      Childhood  should  be  surrounded 


122  P S YCHOL OGY  IN  EDUCA  T10N. 

with  every  influence  that  can  contribute  to  the  making 

of  a  healthy  body  and  a  joyful  mind  and  temper.     It 

„  is  the  absence  of  such  influences  that  makes 

Happiness 

and  child  life  in  the  crowded  slums  of  cities  the 
pathetic  thing  it  is,  and  turns  it  into  a  menace 
to  the  future.  What  can  be  expected  of  men  and 
women  whose  childhood  was  cramped  and  starved  in 
every  physical  tissue,  and  whose  young  minds  knew  no 
happiness?  It  is  one  of  the  glories  of  modern  benefi- 
cence that  it  is  turning  more  and  more  to  children, 
providing  them  with  playgrounds  and  parks,  and  send- 
ing small  armies  of  them  into  the  country  every  summer. 
The  fundamental  characteristic  of  the  kindergarten  is 
its  recognition  of  the  necessity  of  a  happy  development 
of  body  and  mind. 

But  no  life,  of  child  or  adult,  can  be  filled  with  con- 
stant happiness,  nor  is  it  desirable  that  it  should  be. 
Sorrow,  and  its  various  forms  of  disappointment,  regret, 
remorse,  are  disciplinary  emotions,  and  give  fiber  and 
strength  to  character. 

Hope  and  fear  are  anticipative  emotions.     Hope  is 

perhaps  the  main  incentive  to  all  human  action  ;  for, 

no  matter  how  strong  the  desires  may  be,  it 

Hope. 

is  hardly  conceivable  that  man  would  strive 
to  satisfy  them  unless  there  was  some  hope  of  attaining 
their  objects.  If  it  were  possible  for  a  human  being  to 
lose  hope  utterly,  his  energies  would  run  down  below 
the  level  of  brute  action  ;  for  even  the  brutes  have  an 
expectation  of  fulfilled  desire. 

The  school  should  to  some  extent  be  a  miniature  of 
the  world  ;  and  hope  should  be  used  as  an  incentive  to 
action,  —  hope  of  securing  commendation  from  teacher 
and  parents,  hope  of  promotion,  hope  of  graduation, 


THE  SE  NSIBILITIES. 


123 


and  hope  of  increased  usefulness.  In  every  instance 
the  object  of  hope  should  be  that  which  has  its  value 
mainly  in  its  effects  upon  the  growth  of  character. 

Fear  is  an  instinctive  emotion,  manifesting"  itself  in 
the  infant  before  there  has  been  any  possible  opportu- 
nity of  learning  to  be  afraid  of  things  through 

•      i-     •   1        1  •  t         ■  •  Fear. 

individual  experience.  It  is  a  protective 
emotion,  and  is  especially  characteristic  of  children. 
The  use  of  fear  as  a  means  of  discipline,  though  very 
common,  is  rarely  justifiable.  The  readiness  with  which 
the  purely  animal  feeling  of  fear  can  be  aroused  makes 
it  a  too  convenient  means  of  securing  temporary  obe- 
dience in  the  home  and  the  school.  The  nurse  or  the 
mother  who  appeals  to  a  "bogie"  or  an  "ugly  black 
man  "  to  come  and  carry  off  a  naughty  child,  is  giving 
practical  lessons  in  lying,  as  well  as  appealing  to  one 
of  the  lowest  motives  for  correct  behavior;  The  same 
is  largely  true  of  the  teacher  who  relies  upon  fear  of 
the  rod  to  secure  obedience  and  diligent  study.  Fear 
has  no  proper  place  in  any  scheme  of  true  ethical  train- 
ing. Morality  or  religion  based  on  fear  is  not  sound. 
The  child  or  adult  who  docs  right  because  afraid  to 
do  wrong  is  not  moral.  Hut  it  is  true,  unfortunately, 
that  in  many  cases  no  real  ethical  training  can  be  begun 
until  opportunity  has  been  secured  through  the  restrain- 
ing influence  of  fear.  There  seems  to  be  no  higher 
motive  which  will  react  upon  some  children  and  adults. 
The  feeling  of  skame,  though  seemingly  a  purely 
psychical  emotion,  is  common  to  both  man  and  the 
lower  animals.     An  intelligent  horse  or  dog 

•1  Shame. 

evidences  shame  at  failure  to  secure  approval, 

or  when  caught  in  some  misbehavior.      It  is,  in  main-  of 

its   manifestations,   of   much   moral    significance,   being 


124 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


closely  allied  with  conscience.  It  may  be  felt  by  us 
for  ourselves  or  for  others.  When  we  see  others  doing 
that  of  which  we  would  be  ashamed  were  we  doing  it, 
we  feel  shame  on  their  account. 

The  feeling  of  shame  may  be  judiciously  used  in 
school  training  to  secure  correction  of  many  faults  and 
Use  of  the  formation  of  right  habits.  The  pupil 
shame,  should  be  made  ashamed  of  being  tardy,  or 
lazy,  or  indifferent ;  ashamed  to  be  dirty,  to  swear,  to 
smoke,  to  fight.  Many  a  boy  or  girl  has  been  spurred 
out  of  evil  practices  by  the  sharp  prick  of  judicious 
ridicule.  By  most  educationists  ridicule  is  wholly  con- 
demned. It  is  liable  to  great  abuse,  but  it  is  too  ser- 
viceable and  effective  a  means  of  good  discipline  to  be 
laid  aside  entirely.  As  well  forbid  the  use  of  razors, 
because  they  do  harm  in  careless  hands. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  through  shame  that  many 
young  people  are  led  into  evil.  The  boy  is  ashamed 
Danger  of  of  not  being  able  to  smoke,  is  ashamed  when 
shame,  ^jg  COmrades  ridicule  him  for  being  "  too 
good  "  to  swear,  or  drink,  or  bet.  Promising  characters 
have  been  ruined  through  this  "false"  or  perverted 
shame, — through  being  ashamed  of  the  wrong  thing. 
The  influence  of  the  home  and  the  school  must  be 
used  to  correct  the  standards  of  youth,  and  intensify 
the  feeling  of  shame  at  any  taint  of  impurity.  Train 
the  boys  and  girls  to  high-mindedness,  and  cultivate  a 
pride  in  right  thinking  and  right  living. 

The  feeling  of  the  ludicrous,  or  the  sense  of  humor, 
seems  to  be  almost  wholly  lacking  in  many   people  ; 
sense  of     and   'ts  absence  makes   living  less  comfort- 
Humor,     able.     It  is  a  valuable  element  in  the  "philo- 
sophic temper"  that  is  so  helpful  in  adjusting  one's  self 


THE  SEXSJIULITIES. 


125 


to  everyday  annoyances.  It  softens  the  care-hardened 
face,  soothes  the  tired  nerves,  and  drops  oil  on  every 
cog  and  joint  of  the  bodily  and  mental  machinery.  The 
man  whose  genuine  laugh  is  hung  on  a  ready  trigger  is 
a  comfort  to  himself  and  a  solace  to  his  friends.  A  keen- 
perception  of  the  ludicrous  is  protective \  —  it  protects 
us  against  the  commission  of  absurdities  and  Humor 
follies,  social  and  moral,  and  makes  us  care-  Protective, 
fully  observant  of  the  usages  and  manners  of  those 
around  us.  .This  is  true  not  only  of  individuals,  but  of 
whole  communities.  The  old  philosopher  who  was  un- 
decided whether  to  laugh  or  cry  at  the  follies  and  sins 
of  mankind,  would  have  been  wise  to  laugh.  The  world 
has  been  little  helped  by  whining  pessimists  ;  but  many 
a  folly  has  been  laughed  out  of  existence,  and  many  an 
evil  has  fled  before  the  genial  shafts  of  the  humorist. 

Children  generally  have  a  very  keen  appreciation  of 
the  humorous,  and  this  should  be  cultivated.  Nothing 
is  more  healthful  at  times  in  the  schoolroom,  or  more 
preservative  of  genuine  good  order,  than  a  hearty  all- 
round  laugh;  not  guffaws  or  giggles,  but  open,  honest 
laughter.  It  sends  the  blood  tingling  through  every 
brain  cell,  and  discharges  every  tense  and  tired  nerve. 
A  good  laugh  is  more  effective  than  medicine,  and  a 
great  deal  easier  to  take. 

Mingled  with  the  feeling  of  shame,  the  feeling  of  the 
ludicrous  becomes  an  excellent  corrective  of  question- 
able practices  in  the  schoolroom  and  on  the  playground, 
and  is  often  far  more  effective  than  any  form  of  scolding 
or  formal  punishment.  The  egoism  of  the  young  makes 
it  especially  painful  to  be  laughed  at. 

The  cesthetic  feelings  are  universal,  and  are  usually 
quite  highly  developed,  even  in  children  and  the  lower 


!  26  J's  YCHOLOG  V  IX  ED  I  ~CA  TION. 

races  of  man.  The  distinction  must  be  quite  carefully 
made  between  the  aesthetic  feeling  and  the  aesthetic 
^Esthetic  judgment.  It  is  through  the  judgment  that 
Feelings.  we  recognize  a  thing  as  beautiful  according 
to  the  standard  we  have  set  up  for  ourselves ;  the  feeling 
of  the  beautiful  is  the  emotion  produced  by  what  the 
judgment  accepts.  The  action  of  the  aesthetic  judg- 
ment is  almost  instantaneous;  the  feeling  is  prolonged 
and  diffused.  Enjoyment  of  the  beautiful  is  common 
to  all  mankind  ;  but  the  standards  of  beauty  vary  every- 
where, hardly  any  two  persons  having  the  same  in  all  mat- 
ters. The  aesthetic  feeling  and  the  aesthetic  judgment 
are  to  be  cultivated  together  to  a  just  appreciation  of 
the  beautiful.  The  teacher  must  himself  love  beauty  in 
order  to  set  sympathetically  before  his  pupils  the  proper 
standards,  and  direct  their  observation  to  objects  worthy 
to  appeal  to  the  judgment  and  arouse  the  sensibility. 
^Esthetic  training  cannot  be  begun  too  early  in  the 
child's  life,  and  should  be  kept  up  till  correct  judgment 
Esthetic  and  refined  appreciation  become  habits.  In 
Training,  this  as  in  other  things  the  country  teacher 
has  every  advantage  ;  for  the  source  of  all  beauty  is 
nature.  Art  is  beautiful  only  as  it  is  a  transcript  of 
nature;  literature  is  beautiful  only  as  it  describes  nature 
or  borrows  its  figures  from  nature.  The  beautiful  in 
art  and  literature  cannot  be  understood  or  appreciated 
unless  the  original  in  nature  is  known  and  valued,  and 
a  knowledge  of  nature  can  be  had  only  at  first-hand. 
The  teacher  can  do  no  better  thing  than  occasionally 
to  take  his  class  or  school  for  an  afternoon  walk  through 
wood  and  field,  and  point  out  to  the  eager  appreciation 
of  boys  and  girls  the  beauties  of  tree  and  twig  and 
leaf,  of  hanging  vine  and  sturdy  weed,  of  ferny  bank 


THE  SENSIBILITIES.  1 27 

and  Hchened  stone  and  rail.  There  is  more  to  uplift 
the  mind  and  feed  the  soul  in  an  autumn  afternoon, 
filled  with  the  mellow  light  and  warmth  of  a  south- 
ward sun  and  the  color  tones  of  autumn  leafage,  than 
in  all  the  rules  of  arithmetic  and  grammar.  No  one 
can  live  up  to  the  large  measure  of  happiness  he  may 
enjoy  until  he  can  appreciate  the  everyday  beauty  of  air 
and  sky,  sunshine  and  shifting  cloud,  sunset  and  dawn. 
To  love  these  is  more  than  to  know  the  height  of  Pike's 
Peak  or  the  length  of  the  Nile.  The  boys  and  girls 
who,  having  eyes,  have  learned  to  see,  and  can  keep 
their  minds  and  hearts  open  to  all  the  sweet  influences 
that  nature  will  pour  in  upon  them,  have  learned  to 
walk  with  face  toward  God,  seeing  him  in  all  his  world. 

When  they  have  learned  something  of  beauty  in 
nature,  give  them  a  taste,  if  only  a  taste,  of  the  beauti- 
ful in  art  and  in  literature.  Put  them  in  contact  with 
the  master  minds  that  have  interpreted  nature  best,  and 
let  them  feel  the  thrill  and  warmth  that  come  of  every 
such  contact. 

Moral  Emotions. 

The  moral  emotions  are  so  named  because  they  di- 
rectly affect  and  enter  into  the  ethical  life.  They,  to- 
gether with  the  judgment  and  will,  constitute  the  moral 
being.  They  make  morality  and  religion  possible  and 
vital,  and  keep  us  in  the  upward  road.  Taken  together, 
they  constitute  what  is  sometimes  distinctively  called 
human  feeling. 

Pity  we  feel  for  suffering  we  have  not  experienced  ; 
sympathy  we  feel  for  one  who  either  suffers     pity  and 
or  enjoys  as  we  have.     We  may  feel  pity  for  sympathy, 
the  victim  of  a  debauch,  but  not  sympathy,  unless  we 
have  passed  through  what  he  has. 


1 28  fS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TIOiV. 

The  feelings  of  pity  and  sympathy  are  distinctively 

altruistic,  and,  intensified  by  love  in  its  broadest  sense, 

lie  at  the  basis  of  all  true  philanthropy.     They  prompt 

us  to  alleviate  the  suffering  and  soften  the  lot  of  our 

^   less  fortunate  fellows. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  pity  is  felt  by  children;  for  to 

feel  pity  implies  the  power  to  generalize  particular  forms 

of  suffering  into  a  generic  concept,  and  this 

Pity  and  &  &  "   ' 

sympathy  in  power  is  not  developed  in  children.  But  with 
chi  ren.  j-hem  sympathy  seems  to  be  instinctive  or 
automatic.  Its  earliest  manifestation  takes  the  form 
of  physical  imitation.  Even  infants  will  nod,  or  smile, 
or  purse  the  lips,  in  imitation  of  like  facial  movements 
made  by  nurse  or  parent.  Every  one  has  noticed  the 
bodily  sympathy  shown  in  the  imitative  movements  of 
children  as  they  watch  a  playmate  swinging,  or  perform- 
ing some  childish  gymnastic  feat. 

A  very  slight  cause  is  sufficient  to  send  a  wave  of 
mental  sympathy  through  a  playground  full  of  chil- 
dren ;  and  each  one  will  share  in  the  fear,  or  anger,  or 
laughter,  or  pain,  of  another,  even  when  ignorant  of  the 
cause  that  produces  the  feeling  with  which  he  sympa- 
thizes. There  seems  to  be  something  in  numbers  which 
intensifies  this  emotion,  as  every  teacher  knows  who 
has  felt  the  "atmosphere  "  of  his  schoolroom  either  for 
him  or  against  him  in  some  case  of  discipline.  A  class, 
a  whole  school,  an  audience,  or  an  entire  community, 
f  may  feel  the  peculiar  cementing  force  of  sympathy. 
The  teacher  can  use  this  fact  to  great  advantage  by 
Value  of  creating  an  atmosphere  of  studiousness,  of 
sympathy,  obedience  and  good  conduct,  which  may  be 
felt  by  every  pupil,  and  which  holds  the  student  body 
firm  against  the  disturbing  influence  of  any  refractory 


THE  SENSIBILITIES. 


129 


member.  The  greatest  error  that  can  be  committed  in 
college  discipline  is  to  get  the  sympathy  of  the  student 
body  aroused  on  the  wrong  side  of  some  administrative 
question. 

It  is  the  subtle  force  of  sympathy,  bodily  and  mental, 
that  constitutes  what  is  called  the  esprit  dc  corps  of  a 
class,  a  school,  a  church  ;  of  a  fire  company,  a  police 
platoon,  an  army.  Without  its  proper  influence,  the 
school  becomes  a  bedlam,  the  church  disintegrates,  the 
army  is  a  mob.  Bodies  of  children  and  of  men  are  held 
together  by  a  common  purpose  and  the  sense  of  physi- 
cal companionship. 

Each  person  in  an  audience  enjoys  a  lecture,  a  con- 
cert, or  a  play,  by  being  one  of  many  who  enjoy  it,  far 
more  than  if  he  were  the  sole  spectator  or  auditor  ; 
and,  aside  from  any  consideration  of  profit,  a  public 
speaker  prefers  a  large  audience  to  a  small  one,  since 
the  effect  of  what  he  says  seems  to  be  multiplied  by 
the  number  of  those  who  hear  it. 

Even  cultured  communities  sometimes  suffer  from  a 
kind  of  psychic  epidemic  due  to  the  excitability  of  this 
feeling  of  sympathy.     Illustrations  of  this  are    Epidemic 
to  be  found  in  the  waves  of  religious  excite-  sympathy, 
ment  or  political  frenzy  that  sweep  over  neighborhoods, 
towns,  or  even  whole  states. 

Of  course,  a  feeling  so  powerful  in  its  effects  upon 
human  action  should  not  be  neglected  in  any  plan  of 
formal  education.  It  is  with  sympathy  in  its  cultivation  of 
narrower  and  more  usual  meaning  that  the  Sympathy, 
educator  is  chiefly  concerned.  Since  children  are  easily 
appealed  to  through  the  personal  feeling,  their  sympa- 
thies for  the  weakness,  suffering,  and  helplessness  of 
their  companions  and  the  lower  animals,  may  be  best 
Roark  Psych. —  9 


130 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


aroused  on  the  ground  of  "  Put  yourself  in  his  place," 
"  How  would  you  like  to  be  so  treated  ?  "  There  is  in 
many  children  a  thoughtless  bit  of  barbarism,  a  feeling  of 
gratification  in  the  pain  they  inflict  on  the  lower  animals 
and  on  weaker  companions.  This  must  be  reached  and 
removed  through  sympathy.  No  sight  should  arouse 
the  righteous  anger  of  the  teacher  more  quickly  than 
that  of  a  boy  hectoring  one  weaker  than  himself,  or 
tormenting  some  wretched  cat  or  dog  ;  but  punishment 
should  be  given  through  the  self-inflicted  discomfort  of 
the  boy's  quickened  moral  sense.  Through  their  sym- 
pathy with  suffering  they  have  themselves  felt,  children 
may  be  brought  to  pity  pain  and  misfortune  in  any 
form. 

Awe  and  reverence  taken  together  constitute  the  feel- 
ing of  the  sublime,  and  we  are  conscious  of  these  in  our 

Awe  and  sense  of  the  sublime  in  nature  and  in  our  per- 
Reverence.  ception  of  the  sublimity  shown  in  some  heroic 
self-sacrifice.  The  feeling  of  the  sublime  is  aroused  by 
a  consciousness  of  extraordinary  immensity  or  power  in 
nature,  or  of  intellectual  or  moral  strength  in  man.  The 
immensity  of  space  as  one  looks  into  the  starry  sky ; 
the  volume  and  might  of  Niagara  or  the  ocean  ;  the 
moral  courage  of  a  martyr,  —  in  the  contemplation  of 
these,  the  feeling  of  the  sublime  swells  our  breasts. 
Awe  and  reverence  cannot  be  felt  without  more  or  less 
profoundly  affecting  the  moral  nature,  and  it  is  doubt- 
less through  these  that  savage  man  has  risen  to  any 
conception  of  Deity. 

These  feelings  are  closely  associated  with  the  feeling 
of  the  beautiful,  and  through  admiration  and  love  of 
the  beautiful  the  growing  mind  may  easily  be  made 
subject  to  the  profounder  feelings  of  awe  and  reverence. 


THE  SENSIBILITIES.  [aj 

The  human  conscience  has  been  the  cause  of  much 
heated  debate  and  profitless  controversy  as  to  its  ori- 
gin and  its  functions.  Into  origins  it  is  not 
the  purpose  of  this  book  to  go.  It  is  enough 
that  conscience  is  part  of  the  mental  endowment  of  the 
normal  human  being,  and  it  does  not  specially  matter 
when  or  how  he  came  by  it. 

Conscience  should  be  classed  with  the  feelings,  since 
it  gives  pleasure  and  pain.  But,  added  to  its  simple 
pleasurableness  or  painfulness,  there  is  another  element 
which  makes  it  distinctively  the  moral  feeling.  This 
element  is  the  sense  of  obligation,  the  feeling  of  ought- 
ness.     "  I  must "  is  the  expression  of  conscience. 

Conscience  does  not  manifest  itself  except  on  occa- 
sion of  acts  or  purposes  that  have  a  moral  quality ; 
and  in  every  case  conscience  ivaits  on  judgment.  The 
order  of  action  seems  to  be  this:  two  lines  Action  of 
of  conduct  lie  open  before  us;  we  judge  of  Conscience- 
the  Tightness  or  wrongness  of  each  by  standards  formed 
from  experience  and  by  education,  and  finally  decide 
that  one  is  right,  the  other  zvrong ;  the  feeling  of  onght- 
ness  immediately  arises,  and  persists  until  we  do  what 
judgment  has  affirmed  to  be  right.  When  the  right 
thing  has  been  done,  the  feeling  of  obligation  ceases, 
and  is  succeeded  by  a  glow  of  approval.  If  we  should, 
as  is  too  often  the  case,  do  what  judgment  has  pro- 
nounced ivrong,  conscience  begins,  as  soon  as  the  deter- 
mination is  formed  and  before  the  deed  is  done,  to  cry 
out,  "I  ought  not,"  "I  must  not;"  and  after  the  wrong 
deed  has  been  committed,  conscience  immediately  pain- 
fully disapproves.  The  intensified  disapproval  of  con- 
science, mingled  with  moral  shame,  is  remorse. 

The  feeling  of  obligation  to  do  the  right  is  universal; 


132 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


but  what  is  right  in  any  particular  instance  is  largely 
a  matter  of  individual  judgment.  There  are  certain 
things  that  have  received  general  if  not  universal  accept- 
ance as  being  wrong,  others  that  are  as  universally  pro- 
nounced right.  These  things  upon  which  a  general 
agreement  has  been  reached  are  set  forth  in  the  Ten 
Commandments  more  clearly  than  anywhere  else.  But 
the  innumerable  minor  points  of  right  and  wrong  that 
arise  in  a  day's  intercourse  with  our  fellowmen  must  be 
settled  by  each  individual  for  himself :  the  necessity  is 
supreme  that  he  must  be  a  "  law  unto  himself."  No 
man  holds  another's  judgment  or  conscience,  and,  so 
long  as  a  fellow-mortal  faithfully  does  what  he  believes 
to  be  right,  no  one  is  justified  in  thinking  evil  of  him. 

When  it  is  said  that  a  feeling  of  oughtness  is  univer- 
sal, it  is  not  meant  that  every  individual  has  it.  There 
are  doubtless  many  degraded  human  beings,  and  possi- 
bly not  a  few  highly  cultured  ones,  in  whom  there  is  no 
sense  of  obligation,  or,  if  any,  a  very  feeble  one.  In 
such  people  the  knowledge  of  right  and  wrong  may  be 
as  clear  as  in  any  one,  but  the  feeling  of  obligation  to 
do  the  right  is  absent.  Such  cases  present  some  of  the 
gravest  problems  in  sociology,  —  problems  which  psy- 
chology will  doubtless  some  day  aid  in  solving. 

Like  other  feelings,  conscience  can  be  intensified  and 

strengthened  by  arousing  it  through  the  presentation 

cultivation  °^  tne  class  °f  ideas  to  which  it  responds, — ■ 

of  con-  those  which  have  a  genuinely  moral  tone. 
These  concepts  come,  of  course,  through  the 
judgment;  for  it  must  be  carefully  kept  in  mind  that 
conscience  lias  no  power  of  discrimination,  of  deciding 
as  to  the  lightness  or  wrongness  of  an  act.  So  in  the 
case  of  children,  whose  judgment  is  undeveloped,  the 


THE  SENSIBILITIES.  1 33 

judging  must  be  done  by  parents  and  teachers,  and 
certain  things  presented  to  the  children  as  things  they 
ought  to  do,  and  others  as  things  they  ought  not  to  do. 
In  this  way  conscience  is  quickened,  and  judgment 
taught  to  discriminate.  As  soon  as  possible,  however, 
the  child's  judgment  must  be  appealed  to  directly: 
"Do you  tmnk  that  is  right  ?"  "Do  you  believe  that  a 
wise  thing  to  do?"  Children  respond  far  more  readily, 
and  at  an  earlier  age,  to  such  questions,  than  most 
people  suppose. 

The  boy  or  girl  who  is  taught  to  use  all  resources  of 
knowledge  and  experience  in  reaching  an  unbiased  de- 
cision upon  questions  of  conduct,  and  instantly  to  obey 
the  imperative  ought  of  conscience,  will  grow  into  the 
self-reliant  man  or  woman  of  high  integrity  and  moral 
strength. 


134  'FS i  CH0L0G  V  IN  ED UCA  TION. 


CHAPTER   XL 

THE  SENSIBILITIES,  Continued. 

The  Affections. 

The  emotions  spend  themselves  in  the  individual  in 
whom  they  arise:  the  affections  urge  us  to  action  upon 
the  objects  that  occasion  them.  For  instance,  the 
emotion  of  fear,  unless  it  gives  rise  to  a  feeling  of  anger, 
does  not  prompt  us  to  do  anything  to  the  object  that 
excites  it.  Anger,  which  is  an  affection,  is  manifested 
in  a  tendency  to  do  harm  to  what  has  aroused  it. 

The  affections  are  either  benevolent  or  malevolent: 
they  impel  us  either  to  do  good  or  to  do  evil  to  those 
who  are  their  objects. 

Bene: 'o/ent  A  ffections. 
Love,  which  has  many  forms,  and  is,  as  Drummond 
calls  it,  "the  greatest  thing  in  the  world,"  is  that  affec- 
tion which  prompts  us  to  do  crood,  to  return 

Love.  r  i 

good  for  evil,  and  to  make  the  Golden  Rule 
our  rule  of  life.  It  is,  in  its  various  phases,  one  of  the 
most  purely  altruistic  feelings  that  man  is  capable  of. 
Its  first  manifestation  is  the  love  that  is  the  basis  of  the 
family,  and  through  the  family  is  the  basis  of  society. 
It  is  as  a  member  of  a  family  that  the  child  first  experi- 
ences this  affection,  and  its  first  awakening  and  its  con- 
stant influence  should  be  such  as  to  keep  his  after  life 
sweet  and  clean.     The  family  is  the  social  unit,  and  the 


THE  SENSIBILITIES.  1 35 

influences  brought  to  bear  upon  the  child  in  the  home 
will  very  largely  determine  what  he  shall  be  as  a  member 
of  that  organism  we  call  society. 

Patriotism,  love  of  country,  though  a  much-praised 
feeling,  and  one  that  ought  to  be  cultivated  assiduously 
in  many  more  ways  than  it  currently  is,  in  its 

.     .  .  .  ,  r    ,        rr  T  Patriotism. 

origin,  at  least,  is  a  selfish  attection.  It  grows 
out  of  the  love  for  home  and  family.  The  young  patriot 
looks  upon  his  country  as  a  larger  family,  and  feels  a 
danger  to  it  to  be  a  personal  danger  to  himself.  But 
true  patriotism  is  a  sublime  feeling,  whatever  its  origin ; 
and  it  is  probably  better  that  it  has  much  of  the  per- 
sonal element  in  it,  for  men  and  women  will  readily  die 
for  what  they  feel  touches  them  personally,  when  they 
.vould  not  draw  a  blade  for  a  mere  abstraction.  The 
best  soldiers  are  not  always  philosophers,  though  doubt- 
less the  loftiest  love  of  country  is  due  as  much  to  rea- 
son as  to  feeling. 

But  the  teaching  of  patriotism  too  often  takes  the 
form  of  firing  the  citizen's  ardor  for  the  protection  of 
his  country  against  armed  forces,  and  is  by  no  means 
often  enough  directed  to  arousing  a  desire  to  protect 
the  community,  state,  or  nation,  against  the  far  more 
insidious  and  not  less  dangerous  foes  that  attack  the 
foundations  of  good  government. 

Patriotism  is  largely  a  matter  of  sentiment  with 
every  one,  but  more  especially  with  the  child  and  the 
youth.  The  means  used  to  arouse  this  feeling  in  them, 
then,  should  be  such  as  will  excite  the  sensibilities 
rather  than  appeal  to  the  rational  faculty.  Every 
schoolhouse  in  the  land,  from  the  humblest  log  structure 
to  the  proudest  pile  of  brick  and  stone,  from  the  coun- 
try school  to  the  university,  should  have  a  flag ;  and 


1 36  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

the  pupils  should  be  taught  to  look  up  to  it,  and  salute 
it,  and  love  it  with  a  reverential  love.  Then  there  must 
be  singing  of  patriotic  songs,  and  reading  of  biogra- 
phies of  patriotic  men  and  women,  and  stories  of  heroic 
deeds.  Through  these,  sentiment  is  aroused  ;  and  in 
the  study  of  civics,  now  required  to  be  taught  in  some 
form  in  most  schools,  much  is  found  to  call  forth  the 
rational  element  in  patriotism.  Every  boy  and  girl 
should  be  given  a  clear  comprehension  of  the  princi- 
ples upon  which  American  government  is  founded,  and 
an  adequate  knowledge  of  the  methods  used  in  apply- 
ing these  principles  in  practice,  and  the  dangers  which 
beset  representative  government.  Through  such  incul- 
cation of  patriotism,  the  young  citizen  will  come  to  see 
that  a  vote  cast  at  the  people's  polls  or  in  legislative 
halls  may  have  more  patriotism  or  ti'cason  in  it  than  a 
shot  fired  for  or  against  the  flag. 

Above  and  beyond  the  love  of  country,  and  perhaps 
in  some  sense  out  of  it,  there  will  grow  up  in  the  mature 

phiian-      man  or  woman  the  love  of  Jut  inanity ;   and 

thropy.  upon  this  will  be  founded,  by  each  one  for 
himself,  a  system  of  social  ethics. 

Our  sense  of  duty  to  those  who  are  for  any  reason 
handicapped  in  the  race  of  life;  our  treatment  of  those 
who  press  upon  us  the  claims  of  a  common  humanity; 
our  conduct  as  individuals  whose  lives  touch  the  lives 
of  others  at  numberless  points,  —  all  will  be  determined 
by  the  quality  and  strength  of  this  affection. 

Love  of  God,  not  dreading  fear  of  him,  is  the  basis  of 
any  true  religion,  —  any  religion  that  is  not  fetichism  or 

Love  of     a  species  of  devil  worship.    All  children  begin 

God-        at  a  very  early  age  to  construct  a  theology. 

Sadly  harmed  is  any  child  whose  home  surroundings  or 


THE  SENSIBILITIES. 


137 


formal  education  may  be  such  as  to  cause  him  to  frame 
his  theology  upon  a  concept  of  God  as  being  other 
than  love. 

Malevolent  Affections. 

The  malevolent  feelings  come  nearer  than  any  others 
to  disproving  the  assertion  that  all  the  mental  activities 
of  normal  humanity  are  worthy  of  proper  education. 
But  it  may  be  shown  that  these  are  no  exception.  They 
are  all  in  a  Certain  sense  protective,  and  helpful  in  pre- 
serving the  individual  and  the  race. 

Anger  and  hate  may  be  called  the  cicnte  and  the 
chronic  conditions  of  the  same  feeling.  Anger  is  sud- 
den, sharp,  intense :  hatred  is  anger  become  Anger 
chronic.  Both,  if  properly  directed,  wield  a  and  Hate- 
legitimate  influence  upon  character.  Both  affections 
should  be  felt  rather  for  abstractions  than  for  persons,  — 
for  evil  rather  than  for  the  evil  doer,  for  oppression  rather 
than  for  the  oppressor,  for  wrong  rather  than  for  the 
transgressor.  It  is  perhaps  legitimate  to  feel  anger 
against  persons  sometimes,  as  well  as  against  their  deeds ; 
but  to  hate  the  sinner  as  well  as  the  sin  is  never  right. 
There  is  such  a  thing  as  "  righteous  wrath."  Washing- 
ton and  his  compatriots  were  on  fire  with  it  that  Christ- 
mas night  on  the  Delaware,  and  at  Valley  Forge.  All 
history  shows  that  anger  at  oppression  and  tyranny  has 
been  one  of  the  main  incentives  in  man's  many  strug. 
gles  for  freedom. 

These  affections  need  proper  direction  in  the  young. 
With  the  intense  susceptibility  of  children  to  the  per- 
sonal element  in  all  their  feelings,  it  is  difficult  to  get 
them  to  discriminate  as  carefully  as  they  should  between 
the  person  and  his  offending  acts.      They  should  be 


I38  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

taught  to  hate  lying,  theft,  impurity,  and  to  be  angry  at 
cruelty  or  inhumanity  of  any  kind. 

Envy  and  jealousy  are  wholly  evil,  unless  they  can  be 
turned  into  emulation  and  generous  rivalry.  This  fact 
Envy  and  is  alone  a  sufficient  reason  for  not  offering 
jealousy,  medals,  or  other  prizes  of  intrinsic  value,  for 
work  done  in  school.  A  prize  stimulates  each  pupil  to 
work  for  a  purely  personal  end,  rather  than  for  the  good 
of  the  whole  school  or  class,  and  so  fosters  personal  envy 
and  jealousy  rather  than  emulation  and  generous  pride 
in  the  success  of  a  fellow-student.  The  credit  and  honor 
-of  the  class  or  school  should  always  be  held  up  as  some- 
thing worth  far  more  than  a  bit  of  metal  which  only 
one  person  may  wear,  and  which  is  a  constant  reminder 
to  the  others  of  their  failure. 

The  Desires. 
The  desires  can,   like  the  emotions,  be  classed  as 

physical,  intellectual,  and  moral. 

Physical  Desires. 
The  physical  nature  demands  food,  exercise,  rest, 
sleep.  Owing  to  an  increased  knowledge  of  the  laws 
of  hygiene  and  their  relations  to  mental  work,  the 
teacher  is  much  more  concerned  with  the  physical 
desires  of  his  pupils  than  he  formerly  was.  Although 
the  teacher  may  not  properly  exercise  any  direct  super- 
vision over  the  tables  or  lunch  baskets  of  his  pupils 
(except  in  those  cities  where  lunches  are  served  to  the 
pupils  under  authority  of  the  school  boards),  yet  he 
may  indirectly  influence  pupils,  and  through  them  their 
parents,  in  the  selection  of  proper  articles  of  diet,  cor- 
rect methods  of  cooking,  eating,  drinking,  etc.     These 


THE  SENSIBILITIES. 


1 39 


matters  are  best  presented  by  means  of  short,  pointed 
talks,  given  occasionally  to  the  whole  school,  and  made 
to  include  also  the  hygiene  of  sleep,  exercise,  breathing, 
bathing.  The  teacher  can  aid  directly  in  proper  satis- 
faction of  the  desires  for  exercise,  rest,  and  sleep,  by 
exercising  judicious  control  over  the  games  and  sports 
of  the  pupils,  by  properly  distributing  rest  intervals 
through  the  day,  and  by  not  assigning  work  in  the 
lower  grades  to  be  done  at  home  at  the  expense  of 
recreation  and  sleep. 

Intellectual  Desires. 

The  intellectual  desires  are  the  teacher's  best  helpers 
in  all  the  work  he  has  to  do.  The  chief  of  these  de- 
sires is  curiosity,  the  hunger  to  know.  Every  child, 
and  every  grown  person  too,  lores  to  know.  Getting 
knowledge  is  the  natural  activity  of  the  mind  ;  and  the 
normal  mind  enjoys  getting  knowledge  as  a  colt  enjoys 
exercise,  because  its  nature  demands  activity. 

Then  if  the  student,  child  or  adult,  does  not  like  to 
learn  at  school,  the  dislike  is  due  to  failure  on  the  part 
of  the  teacher  in  the  method  of  teaching,  or 

Curiosity. 

failure  on  the  part  of  some  one  to  properly 
direct  the  earlier  mental  activities  of  the  student  along 
the  right  lines.  The  teacher  must  keep  firmly  fixed  in 
his  own  mind  that  the  normal  child  is  hungry  for  knowl- 
edge, and  set  to  work  for  two  things:  (1)  to  find  out 
what  the  child  likes  to  know  about,  and,  if  this  is  not 
profitable  as  a  subject  of  study,  to  make  it  serve  as  a 
means  of  stimulating  desire  for  the  right  kind  of  knowl- 
edge; (2)  to  make  all  useful  knowledge  attractive  to 
the  intellectual  appetite.  Even  a  very  hungry  child 
will  turn  away  from  spoiled  and  nauseating  food,  nor  is 
all  wholesome  food  equally  palatable  to  him. 


140 


PSYCHOLOGY  IX  EDUCATION, 


So  a  child,  though  filled  with  eager  curiosity,  will 
refuse  uninteresting  knowledge,  and  facts  presented  in 
an  unattractive  way;  and  though  it  is  not  wise  to  let  a 
child  eat  only  one  or  two  articles  of  food  wholly  to  the 
neglect  of  others,  yet  there  is  no  reason  ordinarily  why 
he  should  be  forced  to  eat  eggs  if  he  prefers  steak,  or 
to  eat  his  eggs  fried  if  he  prefers  them  scrambled.  So, 
though  a  pupil  must  not  be  permitted  to  study  a  few 
things  to  the  neglect  of  others,  yet  it  is  not  wise  to 
compel  him  to  study  what  is  distasteful.  Food  that  is 
not  relished  will  provoke  indigestion,  and  uninteresting 
facts  will  cause  a  mental  dyspepsia.  If  it  is  desirable 
'for  any  reason  that  the  child  should  eat  eggs,  they 
should  be  prepared  so  as  to  tempt  his  appetite.  If  it 
is  desirable  that  a  student  should  give  more  attention 
than  he  does  to  grammar  or  arithmetic,  these  subjects 
should  be  made  interesting,  the  teacher  must  find  some 
way  of  presenting  them  that  will  stimulate  the  desire 
of  the  student  to  know  more.  Here  again  appears  the 
necessity  for  varying  the  methods  of  teaching.  Variety 
is  a  spice  which  tickles  the  mental  palate,  and  quickens 
interest.  Pupils  grow  tired  of  a  monotonous  grind  of 
recitation,  with  no  variety  of  method. 

The  paramount  business  of  the  teacher,  remembering 
that  every  child  is  interested  in  something,  is  to  discover 
,     what  that  is,  and  to  use  it  as  the  means  of 

Value  of  #  J 

curiosity  in  stimulating  the pupiVs  desire  for  otlier  knozvl- 
Teachmg.  C(jge^  j±  student  interested  in  one  thing,  can, 
with  a  little  care,  be  got  to  see  that  he  cannot  know 
that  one  thing  alone;  that  in  order  to  know  it,  he  must 
know  something  else,-1— many  other  things,  in  fact. 
All  children  are  interested  in  concrete  things;  hence, 
again,  the  necessity  for  object  teaching. 


THE  SENSIBILITIES.  141 

The  curiosity  of  •  children,  too  often  looked  upon 
by  their  elders  as  annoying,  is  a  desire  that  should 
be  given  the  most  liberal  satisfaction  by  par- 

°  ,  J    L  Curiosity 

ents  and  teachers.  Every  question  that  can  should  be 
be  answered  to  the  profit  of  the  child  — and  satisfied- 
most  questions  can  be,  if  the  answers  be  given  simply 
and  honestly  —  should  be  answered.  If  this  be  done, 
the  child  will  rest  satisfied  when  told,  in  regard  to  such 
questions  as  it  may  not  be  advisable  to  answer,  that  he 
cannot  yet  understand  those  things.  The  parent  who 
turns  away  an  eagerly  questioning  child  without  satis- 
fying him  is  giving  a  stone  when  asked  for  bread.  From 
the  child's  standpoint  there  are  no  "  foolish  questions:  " 
he  does  not  know  the  relative  value  of  facts,  but  he  is 
trying  to  find  out,  and  he  should  be  helped.  I  Both  at 
home  and  in  school  the  practice  should  be  to  satisfy, 
stimulate,  and  direct  the  child's  desire  to  know.  Above 
all,  incite  him  to  find  out  for  himself.  In  such  way 
may  be  developed  the  beginnings  of  that  insatiable 
hunger  to  know  which  has  marked  all  those  at  whose 
imperious  demand  Nature  has  yielded  her  choicest 
secrets. 

Self-love,  the  desire  for  approbation,  is  a  purely  ego- 
istic feeling,  and  is  manifested  by  the  more  intelligent 
lower  animals,  as  the  horse  and  the  dog,  as 

„  „  .    .  Self-love. 

well  as  by  man.  Dogs  and  horses  court  ap- 
proval, and  enjoy  it.  This  feeling  is  manifested  very 
early  and  quite  markedly  in  children.  They  love  for 
themselves,  their  acts,  and  their  sayings,  to  be  noticed 
favorably.  In  older  children  and  in  adults  the  desire 
for  approval  has  various  phases,  sometimes  appearing 
in  combination  with  a  morbid  and  painful  self-distrust 
which  needs  a  constant  reassurance  to  alleviate  it ;  some- 


142 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TIOX. 


times  manifesting  itself  as  a  perverted  self-confidence 
which  is  deaf  to  any  but  favorable  comment,  or  which 
may  even  be  so  well  satisfied  with  self-appreciation  as 
to  be  indifferent  to  the  favorable  opinion  of  others ; 
sometimes  finding  expression  in  its  highest  and  best 
form,  in  which  there  is  a  legitimate  and  honorable 
desire  and  regard  for  the  good  opinion  of  intelligent 
people,  mingled  with  a  just  appreciation  of  one's  own 
value  of  character  and  worth.  That  man  is  in  a  bad 
Seif-iove.  way  wh0  cares  for  no  one's  good  opinion 
but  his  own ;  but  he  who  does  not  seek  to  win  his  own 
self-approval  is  in  a  worse  way.  If  in  history  there  had 
been  no  one  to  hold  to  his  own  estimate  of  himself  in 
the  face  of  the  disapproval  and  even  denunciation  of 
others,  there  would  have  been  no  one  to  stand  alone 
with  an  opinion  or  a  principle  till  the  world  should  see, 
and  understand,  and  move  up  to  him. 

The  child's  desire  for  approval  is  a  powerful  directing 
force  upon  his  character.  Until  his  own  power  to 
judge  is  developed,  he  must  test  the  moral  quality  of 
his  acts  by  the  opinion  of  his  elders.  What  they  ap- 
prove will  seem  to  him  right ;  what  they  disapprove, 
wrong.  Erroneous  judgments  of  right  and  wrong  that 
may  be  formed  in  this  way  will  often  require  half  a  life- 
time to  eradicate.  Consciousness  of  this  fact  should 
compel  the  utmost  care  on  the  part  of  parents  and  of 
all  with  whom  children  are  associated.  A  careless  act, 
an  indifferent  word,  a  thoughtless  smile,  may  easily  be 
construed  by  a  child  as  an  approval  of  things  that  arc 
questionable  or  wrong.  Parents  and  relatives  so  often 
show  at  least  a  half  approval  of  such  behavior  in  a  very 
young  child  as  would  be  visited  with  quick  punishment 
in  an  older  one.  This  is,  to  say  the  least,  confusing  to 
the  children's  ideas  of  right  and  wrong. 


THE  SENSIBILITIES.  l^ 

In  using  the  self-love  of  his  pupils  as  a  means  of 
character  building,  the  teacher  should  be  careful  to 
point  out  the  classes  of  persons  whose  approval  is  worth 
having,  and  why  it  is  worth  having.  He  should  also 
with  equal  care  teach  his  pupils  to  be  honorably  self- 
confident,  and  not  to  rely  wholly  or  too  much  on  the 
good  opinion  of  others.  Through  love  of  approbation, 
the  young  may  be  as  easily  led  into  evil  as  into  good. 
Independence  of  character,  when  founded  on  informed 
judgment  and  an  active  conscience,  is  of  the  highest 
value. 

Ambition  is  one  of  the  most  potent  agencies  the 
teacher  can  use  for  securing  from  his  pupils  good  work 
and  right  conduct.     This  feeling  is  a  desire 

,  i    •  ,  .,    .         f,  ..         Ambition. 

to  excel  in  some  way,  and,  as  it  is  often  easily 
perverted,  it  is  dangerous  as  well  as  helpful.  The  boy 
may  be  fired  with  an  ambition  to  become  a  noted  des- 
perado rather  than  to  be  at  the  head  of  his  class ;  and 
the  girl  may  have  an  ambition  to  be  a  society  queen 
rather  than  to  be  a  model  in  deportment.  The  bent 
of  the  ambition  is  determined  by  the  influences  exerted 
by  the  home,  the  school,  companions,  and  books.  Par- 
ent and  teacher  cannot  be  too  watchful  of  what  boys 
and  girls  read.  An  evil  book  is  worse  than  an  evil 
companion  :  it  can  instill  its  poison  quietly  and  in 
secret;  and  to  it  the  boy  or  girl  may  turn  again  and 
again  with  inflamed  imagination  and  growing  ambition. 
Those  who  have  the  care  of  the  young  must  be  con- 
stantly on  guard  against  the  profound  influences  that 
certain  classes  of  literature  wield  through  their  effect 
upon  ambition. 

Children  cannot  have  this  feeling  turned  too  early  to 
worthy  ends.     Let  each  one  become  ambitious  to  have 


144  PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TION. 

the  best  school,  the  best-kept  schoolroom,  or  to  excel 
in  promptitude,  truthfulness,  uprightness,  manliness, 
womanliness.  As  they  grow  into  youth,  put  them 
under  the  magnetism  of  the  fine  and  noble  in  biogra- 
phy, history,  and  literature.  The  ambitions  thus  aroused 
will  mold  and  shape  the  whole  life  to  high  purposes. 

Imitativcncss,  the  desire  to  be  or  to  do  as  others,  is 
perhaps  not  a  distinct  feeling,  but  a  complex,  made  up 

imitative-  of  an  instinctive  sympathy  and  the  desire  for 
ness.  approval.  Children  imitate  the  actions  and 
language  of  their  companions  through  an  unconscious 
sympathy  which  can  hardly  be  called  a  desire.  Later 
in  the  mental  development,  imitativeness  becomes  the 
root  of  ambition.  The  boy  or  girl  aspires  to  be  like 
some  ideal  man  or  woman,  or  to  do  deeds  of  heroism 
and  beneficence  after  the  manner  of  some  hero  or  hero- 
ine. With  right  ideals  before  it,  imitativeness  makes 
for  character. 

The  social  feeling,  the  desire  for  the  companionship 
of  one's  fellows,  is  used  as  a  means  of  discipline  every- 

Desirefor  where,  in  home  and  school  and  state.  Isola- 
society.  tjon  js  one  0f  t]le  severest  forms  of  punish- 
ment, and  is  so  regarded  by  the  toughest  criminals; 
and  any  one  who  has  seen  how  utterly  miserable  a 
child  may  be  made  by  the  temporary  ostracism  of  his 
school  companions  is  aware  of  the  strength  of  the  social 
feeling  even  in  its  instinctive  form  in  the  very  young. 
To  separate  the  child  from  his  fellows  is  too  severe  a 
disciplinary  measure  to  be  used  except  for  extreme 
reasons. 

The  Moral  Desire. 

Desire  for  harmony  with  God  is,  beyond  question, 
one  of  the  feelings  of  the  human  mind  in  all  races.     It 


THE  SENSIBILITIES.  145 

is  manifested  by  the  African  savage,  who  tries  to  pro- 
pitiate his  gods  by  various  kinds  of  idolatrous  worship; 
and  by  the  civilized  Christian,  who  seeks  for  unity  with 
God  by  prayer  and  righteous  living. 

The  feelings  taken  together  are  called  motives,  be- 
cause they  move  us  to  action.  The  desires  are  the 
strongest  motives,  often  not  only  soliciting 

,  ...  ,    .  ,  .  ...  Motives. 

the  will  to  this  or  that  determination,  but 
carrying  it  by  storm,  and  compelling  us  to  deeds  we 
would  not  do.  The  relation  of  the  feelings  to  will  and 
character  is  of  the  most  vital  concern  to  the  teacher. 
A  somewhat  extended  discussion  of  it  will  be  found  in 
Chapter  XVII.  As  to  the  character  and  education  of 
the  sensibilities  themselves,  something  further  may  be 
said  here. 

There  are  a  great  many  more  forms  of  feeling  to 
which  the  mind  is  subject  than  have  been  mentioned 
in  the  foregoing  pages ;  and  all  have  many  phases, 
shades,  and  gradations,  and  many  complex  combina- 
tions. It  is  rare  that  any  one  feeling  becomes  so 
wholly  dominant  as  not  to  be  modified  in  some  way  by 
other  less  vivid  ones. 

A  striking  peculiarity  of  the  feelings  is  the  change 
that  occurs  in  any  of  them  when  too  frequently  pro- 
duced, or  when  too  prolonged.     The  pleas- 

•     r    1  •  Happiness 

urable  ones  become  painful,  and  the  painful   inAitema- 
ones  lose  somewhat  of  the  sharpness  of  their      tIonof 

1  _  Feelings. 

pain.  Joy  too  long  sustained  becomes  dis- 
content ;  and  it  is  true  that  to  be  happy  we  must  occa- 
sionally know  sorrow.  The  mind  becomes  deadened 
to  prolonged  fear  or  remorse;  and  ceaseless  pleasure 
would  be  unbearable.  The  greatest  sum  of  happiness 
Roark  Psych. —  10. 


1 46  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED UCA  TION. 

is  secured  from  the  constant  balancing  and  alternations 
of  the  feelings,  from  their  flow  and  counterflow,  —  the 
mingling  of  hope  and  fear,  of  anxiety  and  content,  of 
shame  and  pride,  the  satisfaction  and  reawakening  of 
desire.  In  literature  and  the  drama  both  good  and 
evil  are  portrayed  —  love  and  hate,  pity  and  cruelty, 
the  pathetic  and  the  ludicrous  —  in  concordant  alter- 
nation. 

With  the  exception  of  the  more  generalized  social 

feelings,  as  philanthropy  and  patriotism,  and  perhaps 

of  the  ethical  feelings,  the  higher  animals  are 

Higher  . 

Animals     susceptible  of  the  same  emotions,  affections, 
have       and  desires  as  man  is  himself.     Lubbock's 

Feelings. 

study  of  ants  seems  to  have  proved  the  ex- 
istence of  the  social  feelings  among  them  ;  and  many  of 
the  higher  animals  exhibit  what  in  man  would  certainly 
be  called  conscience. 

The  first  manifestations  of  feeling  are  shown  in  the 
simple  states  of  physical  pain  and  pleasure ;  then,  in 
the  human,  appear  joy,  sorrow,  fear,  love.  Many  of 
the  higher  feelings,  though  innate,  are  not  aroused  ex- 
cept through  rather  complex  acts  of  the  judgment,  in 
forming  abstract  concepts  of  duty,  goodness,  power,  etc. 

The  method  of  educating  the  feelings  may  be  briefly 
stated.  Objects,  ideas,  and  ideals  must  be  presented 
Education  worthy  to  excite  the  human  emotions,  affec- 
of  Feelings,  tions,  and  desires  in  their  highest  and  purest 
forms,  until  correct  tastes  and  ethical  standards  are 
formed.  Some  suggestions  as  to  how  this  may  be  done 
have  been  offered  in  the  preceding  discussion  of  the 
various  feelings;  but  it  is  desired  here  again  to  empha- 
size the  benefits  derived  from  nature  study  and  the 
reading  of  the  best  literature. 


THE  SENSIBILITIES.  1 47 

The  teacher  must  not  try  to  hold  his  pupils  continu- 
ously to  too  high  an  emotional  strain,  and  must  not 
play  upon  any  one  feeling  or  set  of  feelings  too  exclu- 
sively or  too  long,  in  attempting  to  repress  evil  or 
incite  to  right  action. 


I48  PS  1  'C1I0L0G  Y  IN  ED  CCA  TION. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   WILL. 

Through  consciousness  I  know  that  ^//"exists,  and 
is  the  same  self  in  essence  all  the  time.  Self  says 
"  I  am."  Through  judgment  I  come  to  know  good 
and  evil,  right  and  wrong.  Through  conscience  I  feel 
obligation,  the  imperative  moral  must.  Self  through 
conscience  says  "  I  ought."  But  other  feelings  than 
conscience  make  their  appeal.  The  affections  and  de- 
sires may  all  urge  to  action  contrary  to  the  decision  of 
judgment,  and  opposed  to  the  persistent  promptings  of 
conscience.  All  other  motives  may  be  arrayed  against 
conscience.  During  this  conflict,  self  is  aware  of  the 
power  to  say  "  I  can  and  will  do  this,"  or  "  I  refuse  to  do 
that."  This  power  is  the  crowning,  dominant  faculty 
of  mind  :  it  is  will. 

Materialists  and  fatalists  have  tried  not  only  to  ex- 
plain it,  but  to  explain  it  away  ;  but  it  is  as  much  a 
fact  as  matter  or  any  of  the  attributes  of  matter.  Mat- 
ter and  its  attributes  become  known  to  us  only  through 
the  impressions  they  make  on  consciousness  by  means 
of  the  sense  organs.  Our  knowledge  of  matter,  then, 
depends  on  consciousness,  and  so  does  our  knowledge 
of  everything  else.  It  is  impossible  to  discriminate  be- 
tween the  contents  of  the  normal  consciousness,  and  say 
this  is  trustworthy  knowledge  and  that  is  not ;  therefore 
will  can  no  more  be  denied  than  matter. 


THE   WILL. 


149 


Will  is  correctly  defined  as  the  power  to  determine  and 
execute.     Will  has  the  power  to  determine  upon  one,  or 
to  reject  all,  of  a  number  of  alternatives.     It       Will 
can  direct  the  execution  of  a  determination      defined. 
as  soon  as  it  is  formed,  or  it  can  postpone  execution 
for  any  length  of  time. 

It  is  also  the  faculty  of  expression,  but  may  be  used 
to  prevent  expression  by  inhibiting  speech  or  action. 
The  bodily  organs  of  will  are  the  muscles:  through 
them  all  expression  takes  place.  This  statement  is 
easily  tested  and  proved.  Anything  that  is  done  or 
said  must  be  done  through  muscular  contraction :  we 
smile,  laugh,  cry,  talk,  gesticulate,  write,  with  muscles. 

But  although  will  is  the  faculty  of  expression,  and 
muscles  are  its  end  organs,  yet  it  has  other  work  to  do, 
in  which  any  one  or  all  of  the  other  powers  of 

...  .  .  ,  AH  Faculties 

the  mind  become  its  servants.  As  a  train  of  the  servants 
associated  ideas  passes  through  conscious-  ofWl11- 
ness,  will  can  choose  one,  and  direct  judgment  to  its 
consideration,  can  cause  imagination  to  picture  possible 
combinations  of  this  idea  with  others,  and  can  compel 
memory  to  recollect  other  similar  ideas.  We  can,  while 
sitting  still,  without  a  movement  of  any  voluntary  mus- 
cle, hold  the  mind  to  the  consideration  of  two  or  more 
possible  activities,  and  determine  to  follow  one  of  them 
to-morrow  or  next  year.  It  is  only  at  the  time  of  exe- 
cuting the  determination  that  will  is  expressed  in  mus- 
cular movement.  Will  may  turn  the  mind  from  one 
line  of  thought  upon  another,  or  it  may  even  inhibit 
thinking  altogether;  and  all  this  wholly  without  mus- 
cular movement. 

Professor  James  would  include  the  acts  of  will  — 
determining  and   executing  —  in  the  one  function   of 


i5o 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


attending.  He  says,  "The  essential  achievement  of 
will  is  to  attend  to  a  difficult  object,  and  hold  it  fast 
before  the  mind;"  and  again,  "Effort  of  attention  is 
thus  the  essential  phenomenon  of  will."  A  legitimate 
inference  from  these  statements  would  seem  to  be  that 
the  business  of  will  ends  in  setting  and  holding  some 
object  of  thought  or  action  in  the  focus  of  conscious- 
ness. But  there  is  unquestionably  in  willing  the  further 
act  of  executing  a  choice,  of  directing  thought  or  action 
upon  the  object  chosen. 

The  only  direct  physical  result  of  an  act  of  will  is 

either  the  movement  of  a  muscle  or  muscles,  or  the 

Expression    inhibition  of   movement.     Will   can  be  ex- 

ofv/iii.  pressed  either  in  action  or  in  suppression  of 
action  :  I  can  will  my  arm  to  move,  or  to  stop  moving. 
But  by  no  means  all  muscular  actions  are  due  to  voli- 
tion :  many  of  them  are  reflex  or  automatic,  and  can 
neither  be  caused  nor  prevented  by  an  act  of  will.  We 
cannot  directly  affect  the  muscular  action  of  the  heart 
or  the  stomach  by  volition.  All  muscular  action  is  not 
caused  by  will ;  but  every  outward  expression  of  will  is 
through  action,  or  inhibition  of  it. 

Will,  like  other  mental  powers,  must  be  developed. 
The  new-born  child  has  the  possibility  of  will,  but  no 
Development  will !  just  as  he  has  the  possibility  of  mem- 

ofwiii.  ory(  but  no  memory.  It  seems  to  be  shown 
by  the  observations  of  Preyer  and  others,  that  will  is 
developed  through  impulsive  and  reflex  movements  of 
the  muscles.  For  about  the  first  three  months  of  his 
existence,  the  child's  movements  are  either  impulsive 
or  reflex.  Impulsive  movements  may  be  due  to  some 
nervous  disturbance  arising  in  the  nerve  substance 
within  the  body,  or  they  may  be  caused  by  the  irrita- 


THE   WILL.  I51 

tion  of  some  of  the  nutritive  organs.  Reflex  actions  are 
due  to  some  stimulus  —  sound,  light,  touch,  etc.  —  affect- 
ing the  outer  end  organs,  which,  being  carried  into  some 
ganglionic  center,  stimulates  an  efferent  (motor)  nerve, 
and  so  produces  movements  of  the  muscles.  An  infant 
will  frown  when  the  light  is  too  strong  upon  its  eyes, 
or  will  draw  up  the  leg  and  work  the  toes  when  its  foot 
is  tickled.  These  are  reflex  actions.  A  child  less  than 
three  months  old  will  hold  a  pencil  or  spoon  if  it  is 
placed  in  his  hand,  the  fingers  closing  over  the  object 
reflexively  ;  but  he  cannot  reach  for  or  grasp  the  object 
of  his  own  volition,  or  carry  it  to  his  mouth.  In  the 
fourth  month  the  child  can  grasp  the  object  or  let  it  go, 
as  he  chooses,  and  can  carry  it  to  his  mouth  by  a 
movement  which  seems  to  be  partly  instinctive,  partly 
volitional.  From  observations  upon  such  movements 
of  very  young  children,  it  has  been  concluded 
that  the  power  to  will  is  quickened  into  active    ImP"ls've 

r  ^  and  Reflex 

existence  by  memories  of  impulsive  or  reflex     Actions 

actions.     The   child   subconsciously   remem-  vo^0™^ 

bers  some  movement  of  the  arm,  for  instance, 

and  a  desire  is  felt   to   repeat   it.     Efforts  are   made 

to  do  so,  which   at  last  succeed,  and   thus  volition  is 

established. 

One  school  of  psychologists  would  have  us  believe 
that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  will ;  that  all  movements, 
even  in  the  adult,  are  due  to  reflex  action  or  M  .    ... 

Materialism 

to  the  direct  influence  of  motor  ideas :  that      rejects 
is,  when  we  think  of  some  movement  it  is 
desirable  to  make,  the  idea  stimulates  the  appropriate 
motor  nerves,  and  these,  discharging  into  the  requisite 
muscles,  cause  them  to  contract.     This  theory  "  short- 
circuits"  the  current  of  action,  as  an  electrician  might 


152 


psycho/ax;)-  /.v  education: 


say,  and  cuts  out  will  altogether.  The  eye  is  stimu- 
lated too  much  by  a  strong  light ;  the  painful  impulse 
flows  into  consciousness,  and  starts  an  idea  of  lowering 
the  window  blind  ;  this  idea  starts  the  molecules  to 
vibrating  in  the  motor  nerves  running  to  the  arm  and 
hand,  and  by  the  contraction  thus  caused  in  the  proper 
muscles  the  blind  is  lowered.  This  fairly  illustrates  the 
materialistic  explanation  of  will  action. 

Ward  says,  "  There  is  really  nothing  in  the  will  ex- 
cept the  simple  fact  that   one  of  the  desires  prevails 
over  the  other,  and  the  action  is  performed 
can°notbSe    at  the  behest  of  the  prevailing  impulse  or 
weighed  or  desire."     Ziehen,  Spencer,  and  others  of  the 

measured.  ,,       ,  ,  ,  . 

"  no-will  school,  take  more  words  to  say  the 
same  thing.  But  according  to  their  own  principles,  a 
science  is  not  exact  until  its  quantities  can  be  weighed 
or  measured ;  yet  not  one  of  them  has  frankly  faced 
the  fact  that  their  theory  of  will  (or  no-will)  is  as  worth- 
less as  any  other  until  the  "  prevailing  impulse  or  desire  " 
or  motor  idea  can  be  shown  to  be  bigger,  or  heavier, 
or  to  have  a  more  strenuous  push  or  pull,  than  any 
other  or  all  others  felt  at  the  time.  Until  they  have 
constructed  a  balance  which  will  show  that  a  given 
quantity  of  conscience  is  actually  heavier  than  all  the 
desires  put  together,  until  they  have  contrived  a  moti- 
vometer  which  will  show  that  charity  is  more  dynamic 
than  all  the  other  feelings  acting  together,  they  should 
not  ask  an  acceptance  of  their  hypothesis.  It  is  not 
the  business  of  true  science  to  deny  what  it  cannot 
explain.  And,  after  all,  it  is  no  more  difficult  to  accept 
will  than  to  explain  why  an  idea,  which  is  in  no  sense 
a  material  thing,  can  cause  a  nerve  to  vibrate  and  a 
muscle  to  contract. 


THE   WILL. 


153 


But  the  influence  of  the  desires  or  other  feelings  upon 
volition  is  very  marked  and  important;  so  much  so, 
that  it  may  be  safely  said  that  the  normal  will  does  not 
choose  except  upon  the  solicitation  of  some  motive. 
But  it  is  no  whit  less  true,  for  that,  that  the  will  can 
choose  which  motive  shall  prevail,  or  can  even  refuse 
to  choose  or  to  order  any  action  at  all  in  a  given  case. 
It  can  put  all  the  motives  aside,  no  matter  how  clam- 
orous and  insistent  they  may  be,  and  decline  to  do 
anything.  To  admit  any  other  view  of  will  is  to  relieve 
man  of  all  responsibility ;  to  make  him  an  automaton 
wound  up  by  some  inexplicable  process,  and  set  going 
by  "  pressing  a  button."  The  murderer  is  simply  the 
victim  of  his  "  motor  ideas,"  and  it  would  be  as  silly  to 
hang  him  as  to  hang  a  steam  boiler  for  exploding  and 
killing  some  one.  The  thief  is  a  mere  machine,  run  by 
the  force  of  the  "  prevailing  desire,"  and  is  no  more 
responsible  to  God  or  man  than  the  wind  that  robs  a 
man  of  his  hat.  Rather  dangerous  doctrine  that,  but 
it  is  all  in  the  "no-will"  theory  of  man's  actions. 

There  are,  however,  cases  of  diseased  will,  in  which 
the  individual  can  choose,  but  cannot  determine  or  ex- 
ecute his  choice.  One  man  could  not  take  a  Wui  may 
glass  of  water  after  the  servant  had  brought  be  diseased. 
it  at  his  command;  another  found  great  difficulty  in 
forcing  himself  to  cross  a  street,  and  it  was  impossible 
for  him  to  pass  a  vacant  lot ;  another,  after  having 
written  a  legal  document,  could  not  complete  the  sig- 
nature. These  persons  were  sane  in  body  (suffering 
from  no  paralysis)  and  sane  in  mind,  with  the  excep- 
tion that,  in  spite  of  the  strongest  desire  to  do,  the 
will  could  not  bid  the  muscles  to  contract.  Every  one 
recognizes  such  cases  of  "no-will"  as  abnormal.     With 


154 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  T/OJV. 


them  the  "motor  idea"  moves  nothing,  the  "prevailing 
desire"  does  not  prevail. 

Sense  impressions  and  desires  are  the  occasion  of 
willing,  but  they  do  not  cause  the  will  to  act ;  much 
less  do  they  take  the  place  of  will.  The  rather  may  it 
be  said  that  the  will  is  all  there  is  in  human  action :  as 
a  man  wills,  so  is  he. 

To  be  conscious  of  no  self-power  to  direct  thought 
and  control  action,  would  weaken  every  effort  toward 
righteousness,  would  check  every  moral  impulse,  and 
reduce  man  below  the  level  of  the  brute;  for  the  brute 
could  not  consciously  share  in  the  degradation  of  acting 
always  as  a  mere  machine. 


OPERATIONS  OF  THE  MIND:  ACQUISITION.      155 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

OPERATIONS  OF  THE  MIND  :    ACQUISITION. 

The  preceding  pages  have  presented  some  discussion 
of  the  powers  or  faculties  of  the  mind,  and  have  offered 
some  suggestions  as  to  how  these  may  be  developed 
and  trained.  It  is  proposed  to  investigate  now  the 
operations  of  these  faculties,  working  singly  or  in  groups. 

There  are  three  general  operations  of  the  normally 
active  mind.  These  have  been  referred  to  before  (Chap- 
ter IV.),  and  are  acquisition,  assimilation,  reproduction. 
They  may  be  broadly  defined  as  follows :  — 

Acquisition  is  the  operation  of  gaining  and  storing 
facts,  ideas,  words,  so  that  memory  shall  retain  and  recall 
them.     It  is  the  process  of  taking  in  mental 

r         1  t->  1         1        ti  r  1    Definitions. 

food.  But  as,  in  the  bodily  economy,  food 
is  of  value  only  when  it  is  properly  digested  and  assim- 
ilated, so,  in  the  mental  economy,  no  fact  or  bit  of 
knowledge  is  of  value  unless  it  is  correlated  with  other 
facts,  and  interpreted  by  things  already  known.  Facts 
are  valueless  unless  comprehended  in  their  relations  to 
the  known.  They  must  be  assimilated  (made  like)  to 
the  body  of  our  knowledge  and  thought  already  formed 
in  consciousness.     To  assimilate  is  to  understand. 

As  bodily  health  and  activity  are  measured  by  what 
the  body  can  do,  by  the  labor  it  is  capable  of  perform- 
ing, by  the  strength  it  derives  from  assimilated  food, 
so  must  the  mind  be  tested  by  the  amount  of  work  it 


I  56  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IX  ED  UCA  TION. 

does,  by  the  new  thought  created,  and  by  the  expres- 
sion of  thought  in  language  action,  and  character. 
Hence  reproduction,  as  here  used,  means  the  creation 
and  expression  of  thought. 

Acquisition  involves  the  activity  of  the  perceptives, 
of  judgment,  and  of  memory. 

All  the  senses  are  acquisitive,  whether  working  sepa- 
rately or  together.  Observation  is  often  used  to  name 
the  acquisitive  function  of  the  senses.  The  two  terms 
acquisition  and  observation  are  nearly  synonymous  as 
applied  to  the  work  of  the  senses,  but  have  this  differ- 
ence: observation  refers  more  to  the  outward  act,  is  an 
objective  term ;  while  acquisition  refers  more  to  the 
inward  act,  and  is  the  subjective  term. 

The  processes  of  acquisition  are  perception,  conception, 
retention. 

Perception. 

Perception  is  the  process  of  gaining  primary  ideas 
through  the  senses  and  the  intuition.  The  products 
of  perception  are  called  percepts. 

The  word  perception  means,  etymologically,  "taking 

through."       A    percept,   then,   is   something    "  taken 

perception  through"  the  organs  of  sense.     Each  sense 

defined,  gives  its  own  peculiar  percept,  and  all  the 
senses  acting  together  give  a  combined  sense  percept. 
If  all  the  senses  are  engaged  in  carrying  impressions  of 
the  object  of  sense  to  the  mind,  the  result  may  be  called 
a  complete  percept.  To  illustrate,  here  is  a  bell:  as  we 
examine  it,  the  eye  gives  the  percept  of  color;  the  ear, 
of  sound;  the  tongue,  of  metallic  taste;  the  skin,  of 
smoothness  or  roughness,  and  temperature;  the  mus- 
cles, of  hardness,  shape,  and  size.  When  these  several 
percepts  are  combined  in  consciousness,  the  result  is  a 


OPERATIONS  OF  THE  MIND  :  ACQUISITION.     157 

complete  percept  of  the  bell  as  a  whole.  The  separate 
percepts  of  red  color,  sweet  taste,  sweet  odor,  round 
shape,  small  size,  etc.,  when  combined,  give  us  the  per- 
cept of  an  apple.  In  like  manner  are  formed  all  com- 
plete sense  percepts.  The  union  of  sense  percepts  is 
instantaneous  in  the  case  of  any  familiar  object,  but 
requires  a  noticeable  interval  of  time  in  the  case  of 
new  objects. 

As  was  previously  shown,  the  eye  has  acquired  the 
secondary  power  of  determining  size,  shape,  and  even 
distance  and  weight,  so  that  usually  only  the  eye  is 
brought  into  use  to  give  us  percepts  of  objects. 
.  The  exact  succession  of  events  in  the  formation  of  a 
percept  may  be  recorded,  but  how  these  events  are 
caused  is  a  different  matter.     The  process  of,   „ 

r  Successive 

for  instance,  visual  perception,  may  be  given  steps  in 
as  follows:  Some  object,  luminous  either  by  PercePtl0tl- 
its  own  or  reflected  light,  emits  light-rays,  which,  by 
purely  mechanical  processes,  pass  through  the  pupil  of 
the  eye,  and  are  focused  on  the  retina  so  as  to  form  an 
inverted  image  of  the  object.  The  vibrations  of  light 
falling  upon  the  retina  set  up  within  it  molecular  dis- 
turbances (photo-chemical,  according  to  Ladd),  which 
in  turn  occasion  a  series  of  molecular  movements  in  the 
optic  nerves.  These  movements  are  carried  in  to  the 
brain,  and  are  perhaps  transmitted  to  the  outer  layer 
of  the  cerebrum.  Here  they  cease  to  be  nerve  move- 
ments, and  become  a  visual  percept.  Up  to  the  image 
upon  the  retina,  vision  is  a  purely  mechanical  process, 
and  may  be  so  far  performed  by  a  good  camera  rather 
better  than  by  the  average  human  eye. 

Of  the   cause   and   method  of   nerve   excitation,   or 
molecular  disturbance  in  retina,  optic  nerve,  and  brain, 


158 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TIOAr. 


we  can  know  a  little ;  but  of  the  way  in  which  these 
molecular  vibrations  in  the  nerve  matter  are  transformed 
into,  or  produce,  mental  states,  we  know  absolutely 
nothing.  We  can  go  with  the  nerve  vibration  up  to  the 
point  where  it  ceases  to  be  a  nerve  tremor,  but  between 
that  point  and  where  it  becomes  a  mental  image  there 
is  a  "great  gulf  fixed"  which  no  human  science  or 
philosophy  has  yet  bridged. 

To  have  a  percept,  then,  there  must  be  an  excitant,  — 

light-vibration,  sound-vibration,  or  some  form  of  con- 

.  .  tact    with    a    sense    organ    of   the    body ;    a 

The  Essential  °  '   ' 

Element  in  vibration  or  series  of  vibrations  set  up  in 
Perception.  ^e  proper  afferent  nerves ;  a  transforma- 
tion of  this  molecular  nerve  disturbance,  at  some  point 
in  the  brain,  into  a  mental  state,  a  something  in  con- 
sciousness called  a  sensation;  and  finally  this  sensa- 
tion must  be  referred  by  consciousness  to  the  external 
excitant  as  its  cause.  Without  this  last  step  there  is  no 
true  perception.  If  it  were  not  for  this  act  of  conscious- 
ness in  referring  the  sensation  to  some  external  object 
as  its  cause,  the  mind  would  never  be  aware  of  an  exist- 
ence external  to  itself.  At  what  point  in  its  develop- 
ment the  mind  begins  to  refer  sensation  to  an  external 
excitant  as  cause,  it  is  impossible  accurately  to  say. 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  terminology  of  descrip- 
tive psychology  is  still  somewhat  confused,  not  being 
clearly    differentiated    from    terms    used    in 

Perception  J 

usedinDif-  popular  speech.  Hence  it  is  well  to  remem- 
ferent  Senses.  ^er  ^at  perceive,  perception,  and  percept  are 
sometimes  used  with  meanings  more  extended  than 
those  given  in  the  preceding  pages.  We  say  of  intui- 
tion (judgment)  that  it  perceives  the  ideas  of  space, 
time,  being,  etc. ;  and  that  it  also  perceives  other  truths, 


OPERATIONS  OF  THE  MIND  :  ACQUISITION.     \  59 

relations,  and  meanings,  —  as  when  we  speak  of  per- 
ceiving the  drift  of  one's  remarks,  of  perceiving  the 
thought  in  a  sermon,  a  lecture,  a  book.  The  terms  are 
thus  used  almost  synonymously  with  conceiving,  con- 
ception, concept.  But  these  different  applications  are 
not  so  conflictive  as  they  seem,  if  we  bear  in  mind  that 
in  each  instance  where  intuition  is  said  to  perceive,  it 
acts  as  a  presentative  faculty,  giving  a  truth  or  a  real 
relation  directly  to  consciousness. 

Percepts,    whether    gained    through    the    senses    or 
through    intuition,    are    the    elements    of    knowledge. 
Sights,  sounds,  shapes,  temperatures,  tastes,  odors,  and 
other  percepts  of  physical  sense  ;  axioms,  and  Perce  ts  the 
such  necessary  truths  as  being,  time,  space,  Elements  of 
cause  and  effect,  and  other  percepts  of  intui-     now  e  ge' 
tion,  — makeup,  in  their  various  combinations,  all  knowl- 
edge.    Percepts  are  stored  in  memory,  and  from  this 
accumulated  store  we  draw  as  we  need.     Out  of  percepts 
we  build  concepts,  as  shown  below  ;  but  percepts  them- 
selves give  us  many  of  our  keenest  pleasures  and  purest 
delights,  as  in  the  colors  of  a  sunset  sky  or  an  October 
forest,  or  in  the  blending  of  musical  tones. 

Conception. 
The  next  process  of  acquisition  is  conception,  which 
may  be  defined  as  the  act  of  acquiring  general  ideas  by 
the  combination  of  percepts  or  other  concepts,  conception 
or  of  percepts  and  concepts.     The  products  of      defined, 
conception  are  concepts  (general  notions).     The  steps 
in  the  formation  of  a  concept  are  comparison,  abstrac- 
tion, identification  (or  classificatioii),  denomination,  defi- 
nition.    The  faculty  by  which  conception  is  effected  is 
judgment. 


1 60  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TIOX. 

By  observation  —  that  is,  by  exercising  the  senses  — 
we  gain  more  or  less  complete  percepts  of  a  number  of 
objects.  These  objects,  or  the  percepts  of  them,  we 
compare ;  that  is,  note  their  resemblances.  The  com- 
mon properties  or  attributes  we  abstract,  or  draw  away 
from  the  others.  These  abstracted  common  qualities 
are  put  into  a  group  or  "  bundle  "  by  themselves  (identi- 
fication) ;  and  this  group  becomes  the  type  of  all  ob- 
jects possessing  these  qualities  in  common,  and  is  named 
(denomination)  with  a  class  name.  Finally,  we  define 
when  we  are  asked  to  make  plain  to  others  what  our 
concept  is,  or  when  we  would  be  sure  of  a  clear  notion 
in  our  own  consciousness.  To  illustrate :  we  see  from 
time  to  time  several  objects,  —  some  square,  some  round, 
some  tall,  some  low,  some  handsomely  finished,  others 
roughly  so,  —  but  all  are  alike  in  being  made  of  metal 
and  in  having  a  cavity  inside  to  hold  fire.  These  com- 
mon characteristics  we  abstract,  group  together,  and 
denominate  (or  name)  the  result  "  stove."  Before  the 
word  stove  could  call  up  the  corresponding  concept  in 
the  mind  of  one  who  had  never  seen  a  stove,  it  would 
have  to  be  defined  in  intelligible  terms. 

A  percept  is  the  immediate  result  of  the  mind's  recep- 
tion of  impressions  through  the  senses  :  a  concept  is  the 
result  of  an  act  or  acts  of  judgment  (the  relational  faculty) 
in  discerning  resemblances,  and  grouping  like  objects 
together  under  a  general  idea. 

This  general  description  and  illustration  of  the  forma- 
tion of  a  concept  applies  more  particularly  to  concrete 

concrete    concepts, —  concepts  of  concrete  things.     It 

concepts,  typifies  fairly  well  the  general  process  of  con- 
ception. But  only  our  concepts  of  material  objects  are 
formed  out  of  sense  percepts ;  and  our  most  useful  con- 


OPERATIONS  OF  THE  MIND:  ACQUISITION.     \6l 

ccpts  of  even  material  things  contain  elements  that  the 
senses  alone  cannot  directly  furnish,  but  which  must 
be  gained  through  judgment,  and  quite  often  through 
feeling.  Most  of  our  concepts  are  complexes  of  sense 
percepts,  other  concepts,  and  feelings. 

We  can  trace  step  by  step  the  formation  of  only  the 
simplest  ideas,  as  the  concept  dog  or  man.  It  is  diffi- 
cult to  distinguish  all  the  elements  that  enter  into  our 
concept  of  religion,  or  society,  or  evolution  ;  or  to  follow 
in  detail  the  synthesis  by  which  the  elements  were  put 
together  to  make  the  concept.  It  is  safe  to  assert, 
that  in  every  act  of  conception  there  are,  broadly 
speaking,  all  the  stages  given  on  the  preceding  page, 
the  most  important  ones  being  comparison  and  identifi- 
cation, or  the  search  for  and  recognition  of  similarities. 

But  we  are  able  to  make  a  concept  clearer  and  to  get 
a  firmer  grasp  of  it  by  discrimination,  —  the  discern- 
ment of  difference  between  percepts  or  con-  Discrimi- 
cepts.  The  first  impulse  of  the  mind  is  to  nation. 
seek  for  and  perceive  resemblances  :  the  perception  of 
differences  is  secondary,  and  seems  to  be  at  first  a 
negative  act,  a  perception  of  lack  of  rese7nblance.  The 
ability  to  discriminate  is  an  element  of  the  highest 
value  in  skill.  Skillful  physical  or  mental  work  requires 
quick  recognition  of  slight  differences  and  discrepancies. 

Abstract  concepts  —  concepts  of  goodness,  beauty, 
color,  etc.  —  are  formed  by  abstracting  these  qualities 
not  only  from  other  qualities  of  the  objects,  Abstract 
but  from  the  objects  themselves,  and  are  concepts, 
evidently  made  up  of  but  one  quality  instead  of  sev- 
eral. But  to  form  a  concept  from  this  one  quality,  we 
must  have  seen  it  manifested  in  different  objects  and 
in  various  ways.  We  must  have  seen  various  manifes- 
Roark  Psych. —  II. 


1 62  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

tations  of  goodness,  and  must  have  known  several  good 
people,  in  order  to  form  the  abstract  concept  goodness. 
Of  course,  no  one  consciously  goes  through  all  the 
steps  above  described,  in  the  everyday  process  of  gain- 
ing concepts  of  new  things.     The  steps  fol- 
conception   l°w  one  another  so  rapidly  as  to  be  almost 
almost  simui-  simultaneous,  but  a  little  close  analysis  on  the 

taneous.  .  ... 

part  of  the  student  of  mental  phenomena  will 
readily  separate  them. 

Children  and  primitive  peoples,  in  forming  concepts, 
abstract  only  the  most  evident  and  most  similar  proper- 
ties of  the  objects  observed,  and  consequently  many 
of  their  concepts  are  imperfect  and  untrue.  By  some 
ancient  naturalists,  for  example,  the  turtle  was  classed 
with  the  quadrupeds,  because  it  has  four  legs. 

As  the  human  mind  grows  in  logical  power,  it  seeks 
more  and  more  closely  for  real  and  distinctive  resem- 
blances and  differences.      The  most  impor- 

Most  Essen-  1 

tiai  Resem-  tant  determining  resemblance  upon  which  we 

lance.      most  often  classify  objects,  is  resemblance  in 

function.     The  classifications  of  the  systematic  natural 

sciences  —  botany,  zoology,  and  their  subdivisions  — are 

built  upon  functional  resemblances.     Only  the  simplest 

and  most  primary  concepts  are  based  on  or  derived  from 

the  mere  external  accidents  of  color,  sound,  weight,  etc. 

It  has  been  claimed  that  a  concept  must  be  made  up 

of  two  or  more  percepts;  that  a  concept  —  a  notion  of 

a  class  of  objects  having  common  properties 

a  concept    Qr  funct;ons —  cannot   be  gained   from   one 

may  be  ° 

gained      percept.     This  is  doubtless  true  to  some  ex- 
PercepT    tont  °^  ^lc  child  mind  or  the  undisciplined 
mind,  which  must  perceive  many  objects  be- 
fore their  common  attributes  will  be  perceived  as  com- 


OPERATIONS  OF  THE  MIND:   ACQUISITION.     163 

mon,  grouped  together  in  consciousness,  and  named. 
But  the  mind  trained  in  even  a  slight  degree  can  un- 
doubtedly gain  a  concept  of  a  wholly  new  class  of 
objects  from  the  careful  observation  of  one  of  the  ob- 
jects. Here  are  the  extremes:  some  of  the  African 
low  tribes,  not  having  power  to  arrange  their  individual 
percepts  into  general  groups,  have  no  class  names  for 
objects,- — -no  such  names  as  tree,  or  eat  tie,  or  persons. 
But  a  cultivated  intelligence  can  grasp  the  general  idea 
of,  for  instance,  skates,  from  seeing  one  pair  of  skates, 
or  could  even  pass  through  the  idea  of  drunkard  to 
the  abstract  concept  of  drunkenness  from  seeing  for 
the  first  time  one  drunken  man. 

There  is  a  class  of  ideas  that  may  be  called  individual 
concepts,  as  the  concept  of  a  particular  person  or  thing. 
Such  concepts  are  made  up  of  the  attributes  individual 
or  peculiar  characteristics  of  an  individual.  Concepts- 
Certain  attributes  enter  into  my  concept  of  my  friend 
Henry  Brown,  or  my  dog  Jack.  These  are  the  attri- 
butes by  which  I  distinguish  these  individuals  from 
others  of  the  same  class. 

A  concept  having  been  once  formed,  all  objects  ob- 
served to  have  the  properties  from  which  the  concept 
is  made  up  are  immediately  classed  with  the    Appercep- 
concept    already    formed.     Thus,  if    I  have       tion- 
the  concept  fern,  all  new  objects  having  the  attributes 
entering  into  my  concept  are  classed  as  ferns. 

If  any  new  thing  be  perceived,  the  mind  at  once 
tries  to  assimilate  it  (make  it  similar)  to  some  concept 
already  acquired.  It  is  said  the  natives  of  one  of  the 
South  Sea  Islands,  who  were  familiar  with  sheep  but  had 
never  seen  a  hog,  called  the  first  porker  brought  to  their 
shores  a  "grunting  sheep."     The  concept  sheep  was  the 


1 64  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED  CCA  TIOiV. 

one  which  the  percept  of  the  hog  most  nearly  resembled. 
This  spontaneous  act  of  the  mind  in  immediately  seek- 
ing something  in  its  store  of  ideas  with  which  to  classify 
a  new  idea,  is  sometimes  called  apperception,  the  trans- 
lation and  interpretation  of  the  new  in  terms  of  the 
known.  It  is  one  of  the  first  distinctive  steps  in  the 
elaborative  operation  to  be  described  as  assimilation. 

Apperception  is  therefore  an  elementary  classifica- 
tion, the  grouping  of  concepts.  The  term  classification 
is  used  in  two  senses.  In  one  it  means  the  act  of 
identification  in  the  process  of  forming  concepts;  that 
is,  the  act  of  recognizing  resemblances,  and  grouping 
them  together  in  consciousness.  In  the  other  sense  it 
is  used  to  name  the  process  of  grouping  concepts;  that 
is,  putting  into  the  same  class  objects  that  have  essen- 
tial points  of  agreement.  For  example,  we  classify 
minerals,  plants,  and  animals  in  the  several  sciences 
treating  of  them.  For  the  sake  of  precision,  it  is  bet- 
ter to  use  classification  in  this  latter  sense,  and  to  use 
identification  to  express  the  recognition  of  resemblances 
in  forming  concepts. 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  say  here,  that  there  hardly 
seems  to  be  sufficient  ground  for  the  assertion  some- 

Thou  ht     times  made,  that  there  cannot  be  thinking 

without  without  language.  It  should  be  plain  that 
there  can  be ;  for  every  one  has  concepts  for 
which  he  has  no  names,  and  can  carry  on  a  line  of 
thought  that  cannot  be  successfully  put  into  language. 
Every  child  thinks  for  some  months  before  he  masters 
even  a  few  words,  and  the  deaf-mute  is  sometimes  quite 
advanced  in  rational  thought  before  he  has  possessed 
himself  of  any  rational  language.  It  would  be  valuable 
to  know  in  what  way  Laura  Bridgman  formed  her  con- 


OPERA  TTONS  OF  THE  MIND:  ACQUISITION.     165 

cepts,  and  in  what  terms  or  symbols  she  carried  on  a 
line  of  thought.  We  must  conclude,  of  course,  that 
she  thought  wholly  in  tactile  images;  and  yet  how  she 
could  do  this  must  remain  a  mystery  to  us  who  possess 
all  the  senses. 

Definition,  which  has  been  given  as  the  last  step  in 
conception,  is  not,  strictly  speaking,  a  pro- 
cess in  the   formation  of  a  concept ;    but  a 
concept  is  not  clearly  fixed,  not  wholly  possessed,  until 
it  can  be  accurately  defined. 

Schuyler  defines  a  definition  as  "  such  a  description 
of  a  thing,  whether  an  object  or  a  class,  as  will  dis- 
tinguish it  from  all  other  things."  A  correct,  concise 
definition — one  that  excludes  all  that  does  not  fall 
within  its  meaning,  and  includes  all  that  does  —  is  a 
delight  to  the  logical  soul.  It  is  to  a  concept  what 
minting  is  to  precious  metal:  it  strikes  into  clear  and 
accurate  form  and  shape  the  raw  bullion  of  our  concepts, 
and  gives  them  currency  in  our  communication  with 
others. 

A  complete  definition  is  a  sentence  composed  of 
subject,  copula,  and  attribute. 

The  attribute  of  such  a  sentence  is  made  up  of  two  parts 
—  the  proximate  major  genus  (nearest  greater    Parts  of  a 
family)   and   the   differentia  (specific   differ-  Definition, 
ence).     The  following  illustrations  will  make  these  tech- 
nicalities plain: — 

prox.  major  genus.  differentia. 


i.  A  polygon  is  a  plane  surface"  wounded  by  straight 

Inns. 

p.  >n.  g.  differentia. 

2.  A  triangle  is  a  ^poTygw?  ^having  three  sides} 

differentia.  p.  m.  g. 

3.  A  square  is  an  ^equilateral  ^rectangle) 


1 66  ^J  'CIIOL  OGY  IN  ED  I TCA  TTON. 

To  say  that  a  polygon  is  a  plane  surface  is  not  suffi- 
cient, because  there  are  plane  surfaces  that  are  not 
polygons ;  hence  polygon  has  to  be  differentiated  from 
other  plane  surfaces  by  specifying  its  straight-line 
boundary. 

It  is  not  exact  to  define  a  triangle  as  a  polygon,  for 
there  are  many  polygons  that  are  not  triangles:  the 
definition  is  completed  by  adding  the  differentia,  hav- 
ing three  sides. 

To  say  that  a  square  is  a  polygon,  though  true,  would 
not  be  a  definition,  since  the  term  polygon  includes  other 
plane  figures  besides  the  square;  that  is,  polygon  is  not 
the  nearest  greater  family  containing  squares. 

It  is  both  very  easy  and  very  necessary  to  make 
accurate  definitions  of  mathematical  terms,  but  it  is  by 
no  means  so  easy  to  make  good  definitions  of  terms  in 
everyday  use.  It  is  impossible  to  give  perfect,  logical 
definitions  to  some  terms ;  for  words  are  natural  growths, 
and  are  not  always  subject  to  logical  rules. 

Some  further  illustrations  of  definitions  are  added  : 

^.  A  diamond  is  the  hardest  gem. 

j.  Air  is  a  gas  composed  of  one  fifth  oxygen  and  four 
fifths  nitrogen. 

6.  A  hat  is  a  head  covering  with  a  brim. 

7.  Life  is  a  force  that  manifests  itself  through  growth 
from  within. 

From  these  examples  it  will  be  seen  that  there  are 
different  kinds  of  specific  differences,  and  different  ways 
of  placing  them  as  modifiers  of  the  proximate  major 
genus.  In  each  case  the  differentia  is  an  adjective 
element  in  the  sentence,  and  may  be  placed  before  or 
after  the  proximate  major  genus,  and  may  be  a  word, 
a  phrase,  or  a  clause.     It  may,  as  in  1,  2,  and  3,  describe 


OPERATIONS  OF  THE  MIND:  ACQUISITION.     \6j 

a  mathematical  property  ;  or,  as  in  4  and  5,  a  structural 
characteristic ;  or,  as  in  6,  a  mechanical  part ;  or  as  in 
7,  a  function. 

It  should  be  noted,  that,  in  the  language  of  Schuyler, 
"  the  subject  and  predicate  of  a  definition  are  coexten- 
sive and  interchangeable."  A  definition,  like  an  alge- 
braic equation,  should  read  correctly  either  way. 

The  teacher  will  find  it  a  most  profitable  exercise, 
both  for  himself  and  his  older  pupils,  to  have  occasion- 
ally a  thorough  drill  in  defining  common  terms,  such 
as  chair,  tabic,  mouth,  door.  It  is  an  excellent  plan, 
also,  to  test  the  definitions  met  with  in  study  or  read- 
ing. Even  a  cursory  examination  will  show  that  many 
popular  text-books  are  woefully  deficient  in  both  the 
number  and  accuracy  of  their  definitions  of  terms  used. 
The  student  has  to  flounder  through  a  mass  of  names, 
many  of  them  technical  or  used  technically,  without 
gaining  clear-cut  and  accurate  ideas  of  the  subject. 
Hence  too  many  school-bred  men  and  women  are  loose 
thinkers,  and  are  inexact  in  expression. 

A  term  denotes  (names)  all  the  objects  of  a  class:  it 
connotes  attributes  or  characteristic  qualities  of  the  ob- 
jects in  a  class.     For  example,  the  term  dog  _ 

•>  r  °     Denotation 

denotes  (names)  all  animals  of  that  class, —  and 
they  are  all  called  dogs  ;  it  connotes  the  attri- 
butes or  marks  that  distinguish  dogs  from  other  animals. 
Denotation  refers  merely  to  the  name :  connotation 
refers  to  the  characteristics  marking  the  object,  which 
arc  included  in  the  definition.  The  denotation  of  a 
term  is  usually  pretty  clear,  especially  if  the  term  is 
a  familiar  one  ;  but  its  connotation  is  not  always  clear, 
even  when  the  term  is  one  in  everyday  use.  We  all 
know,  for  instance,  the  object  named  by  the  term  chair: 


1 68  PS  YCHOL OGY  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

but  an  attempt  at  an  accurate  definition  of  chair  will 
soon  convince  the  experimenter  that  he  is  not  so  sure 
of  its  connotation  ;  that  is,  he  may  not  have  clearly  in 
mind  the  qualities  that  must  be  named  to  differentiate 
chair  from  every  other  kind  of  seat. 

No  argument  should  ever  be  undertaken,  no  demon- 
stration attempted,  without  a  preliminary  defining  of 
all  important  terms  entering  into  the  propo- 

Importance  r  fc>  r       r 

ofDefini-  sition,  and  an  agreement  as  to  their  connota- 
tion. Many  words  and  much  temper  could 
be  saved  by  such  precautions.  Frequently,  at  the 
close  of  a  heated  argument,  the  disputants  find  they 
have  been  talking  about  very  different  things  under 
the  same  name,  and  that,  if  they  had  carefully  defined 
their  terms  at  the  outset,  they  would  have  found  them- 
selves in  agreement  from  the  first. 

In  using  definitions  in  teaching,  it  should  not  be  for- 
gotten that  a  definition  is  valuable  only  as  the  pupil 
has  the  corresponding  concept,  or  at  least  its  essential 
uncombined  elements,  already  in  consciousness.  He 
can  understand  a  definition  only  as  he  already  knows 
the  tiling  defined.  The  memorized  words  of  a  defini- 
tion often  convey  no  meaning  to  the  pupil.  A  good 
working  principle  for  the  teacher  is,  therefore,  not  to 
give  a  formal  definition  to  the  child,  or  require  him  to 
give  one,  until  the  child  knows  the  thing, —  has  formed 
the  concept.  In  the  case  of  older  pupils  the  definition 
may  sometimes  be  given  first,  and  the  corresponding 
concept  will  be  suggested  by  the  words  of  the  definition, 
if  they  are  sufficiently  familiar. 

Properties  of     Concepts  have  the  properties  of  clearness. 
Concepts,    distinctness,  extension,  and  comprehension  (or 
intension). 


OPERATIONS  OF  THE  MIND:  ACQUISITION.     169 

A  concept  is  clear  when  it  is  discriminated  in  con- 
sciousness from  other  concepts.  We  have  a  clear 
concept  of  horse  when  we  can  properly  and  readily 
discriminate  between  a  horse  and  all  other  objects. 

A  concept  is  distinct  when  the  attributes  that  go  to 
make  it  up  are  plainly  comprehended.  When  we  know 
all  the  essential  attributes  that  mark  a  horse,  and  have 
them  grouped  together  in  consciousness,  we  have  a  dis- 
tinct concept  of  horse.  The  ability  to  give  class  differ- 
ences, as  the  difference  between  horses  and  dogs,  is  a 
test  of  clearness :  the  ability  to  accurately  define,  that 
is,  to  give  the  marks  or  attributes  that  make  up  a  con- 
cept, is  a  test  of  distinctness. 

By  the  extension  of  a  concept  is  meant  the  number 
of  different  objects  denoted  or  named  under  it. 

By  comprehension  (intension)  is  meant  the  number 
of  attributes  or  qualities  connoted  under  the  concept. 
For  example,  the  extension  of  the  concept  man  means 
all  the  different  races  and  kinds  of  men :  the  compre- 
hension of  the  concept  means  the  qualities  that  dis- 
tinguish man  from  other  objects.  Extension  and  com- 
prehension vary  inversely :  the  greater  the  extension  of  a 
term,  the  fewer  the  attributes  or  qualities  comprehended 
under  it.  The  term  animal  is  more  extensive  than  the 
term  man,  because  it  includes  man  and  all  other  animals  : 
it  is  less  comprehensive,  because  we  need  to  name  fewer 
attributes  in  order  to  define  animal  than  we  do  to  define 
man. 

The  most  extensive  concept  is  being,  since  that  in- 
cludes all  existing  things :  the  most  intensive  concept 
is  that  of  some  individual  object,  as  John  Smith.  We 
need  name  but  one  attribute  to  define  being;  we  must 
name  very  many  to  discriminate  John  Smith  from  the 


170 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


multitude    of   his    fellows.     The   terms   man,    animal, 
student,  lawyer,  may  be  arranged  in  the  order  of  their 

extension  thus :  — 

Animal. 

Man. 

Student. 

Lawyer. 
The  term  animal  includes  (extends  over)  all  below  it. 
More  attributes  have  to  be  named  to  define  lawyer  than 
to  define  animal.     Lawyer,  therefore,  has  the  greater 
comprehension  ;  animal,  the  greater  extension. 

The  relations  of  concepts  in  extension  and  compre- 
hension will  be  further  discussed  under  the  following 
subject. 

Outlining. 

Outlining  is  to  a  series  of  related  concepts  what 
defining  is  to  the  single  concept:  it  serves  to  fix  their 
order  and  comparative  importance  in  mind,  and  to 
make  clear  their  mutual  relations.  As  a  definition 
shows  the  essential  marks  or  attributes  of  a  concept, 
so  an  outline  shows  the  order  and  relation  of  the 
objects  forming  a  class,  or  the  sequence  and  connec- 
tion of  thoughts  in  a  subject. 

Outlining  is  the  process  of  arranging  a  series  of  con- 
Outiining    cepts  in  logical  order,  upon  some  principle 

defined.      (one  or  more)  of  mutual  relation. 

An  outline  of  a  concept  or  series  of  concepts  in  ex- 
tension is  called  division  :  an  outline  of  a  concept  with 
reference  to  the  parts  of  the  object  is  called  partition. 
To  illustrate:  to  outline  man  in  extension  would  be 
to  divide  mankind  into  the  different  races  and  kinds 
of  men;  to  outline  man  in  partition  would  be  to  give 
the  parts  of  a  man  (as  head,  trunk,  and  extremities),  and 


OPERATIONS  OF  THE  MIND:  ACQUISITION.     \y\ 

to  separate  each  of  these  into  its  parts.  The  one  rule  to 
be  carefully  observed  in  making  an  outline  is,  the  basis 
of  division  or  partition  in  any  portion  of  the  outline 
must  be  plainly  set  forth  and  faithfully  followed.  It 
would  be  manifestly  illogical  to  divide  man  into  Negroes, 
Indians,  club-footed,  bachelors,  and  Chinese;  or  to  par- 
tition man  into  head,  trunk,  lime,  nerves,  and  extremi- 
ties. But  if  there  be  several  different  bases  of  separa- 
tion, all  these  items,  and  many  others,  will  fall  logically 
into  place.  Thus  man  may  be  divided  (classified),  upon 
the  basis  of  religious  faith,  into  Buddhists,  Moham- 
medans, Christians,  etc. ;  upon  the  basis  of  color,  into 
the  yellow,  the  brown,  the  black,  the  white  races;  upon 
the  basis  of  occupation,  into  farmers,  lawyers,  carpen- 
ters, etc.  Man  may  be  partitioned,  upon  the  basis  of 
mechanical  parts,  into  head,  trunk,  extremities;  upon 
the  basis  of  chemical  composition,  into  lime,  water,  salt, 
etc.;  upon  the  basis  of  function,  into  the  motive  sys- 
tem, the  nutritive  system,  the  sensitive  system. 

An  outline  of  a  subject  for  an  essay,  lecture,  debate, 
etc.,  may  include  more  than  division  and  partition ;  for 
example,  in  an  outline  of  horse  as  the  subject  of  an  essay 
or  book,  could  be  included  not  only  the  kinds  of  horses 
and  the  anatomical  parts  of  a  horse,  but  also  the  origin, 
history,  uses,  diseases,  training,  etc.,  of  horses. 

It  is  necessary  for  the  scientist,  the  public  speaker, 
the  essayist,  especially  for  the  teacher,  and  in  short 
for  every  one  who  would  have  mind  direct  his     IT 

J  Use  and 

work  economically,  to  outline  clearly  the  mat-     value  of 
ter  in  hand.     The  elaborate  classifications  of      u  ining- 
the  botanist  and  the  zoologist ;  the  arrangement  of  the 
heads  and  subheads  of  a  sermon,  a  political  speech,  a 
lecture,  or  a  recitation  ;  the  grouping  of  the  topics  and 


172 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


paragraphs  in  a  newspaper  or  magazine  article;  the 
planning  of  a  day's  work  on  the  farm  or  in  the  kitchen, 
—  are  all  simply  outlines,  the  orderly  arrangement  of 
concepts  according  to  their  relations  and  logical  se- 
quence. 

No  proof  is  needed  to  make  plain  the  fact  that  out- 
lining aids  memory,  and  is  a  great  saver  of  time,  of 
thought  energy,  and  of  vital  force.  It  gives  lucidity 
and  connectedness  to  lectures,  to  essays,  to  narrations, 
to  scientific  treatises,  and  to  works  of  fiction.  It  en- 
ables the  teacher  to  group  and  concisely  present  the  facts 
of  a  lesson,  and  to  make  each  question  hit  the  mark. 
It  enables  the  farmer,  the  blacksmith,  the  carpenter,  the 
housekeeper,  to  take  the  fewest  steps,  to  make  the 
fewest  strokes,  to  accomplish  the  most  with  the  least 
effort.  Outlining  means,  in  everyday  affairs,  clearly 
thinking  out  beforehand  what  is  to  be  said  and  done, 
and  how  it  is  to  be  said  and  done.  To  go  to  work  at 
anything  without  a  plan  (an  outline)  is  to  incur  loss  of 
time  and  energy,  if  not  failure. 

There  is  no  better  school  exercise  with  which  to  cul- 
tivate judgment,  as  well  as  the  power  of  observation 
and  memory.  The  younger  pupils  may  be  exercised  in 
outlining,  both  in  extension  and  comprehension,  the 
concepts  of  chair,  table,  house,  tree,  flower,  etc. ;  and 
the  older  ones  will  find  great  profit,  and  so  will  their 
teachers,  in  outlining  both  orally  and  in  writing  the 
doings  of  a  week  or  day  at  home  or  at  school,  the  ser- 
mon or  lecture  they  have  heard,  the  books  and  papers 
they  have  read. 

The  degree  of  ability  to  outline  affords  a  very  just 
test  of  the  power  to  think;  and  by  the  application  of 
this  test,  many  a  talker  and  writer  will  be  found  to  be 


OPERATIONS  OF   THE  MIND:  ACQUISITION.      173 


a  mere  word  machine,  and  many  a  teacher  or  farmer  or 
merchant  be  proved  to  be  a  clumsy,  blundering  doer  of 
what  has  not  been  clearly  thought  out  beforehand. 

One  of  the  chief  values  of  outlining  to  the  teacher  is 
that  it  frees  him  from  his  bondage  to  the  text-book. 
The  teacher  who  goes  before  a  class  with  a  clear  outline 
in  mind,  not  only  of  the  lesson  matter  but  of  how  he 
shall  present  it,  will  not  need  a  text-book  with  which 
to  "  hear  the  lesson."  Almost  every  study  in  the  com- 
mon school  course  may  be  outlined  profitably;  but 
history  and  civics,  physiology,  grammar,  and  arithmetic, 
are  especially  adapted  to  being  taught  by  outline  and 
topic  methods.  The  pupils  should  also  be  carefully 
drilled  in  outlining  the  subjects  of  their  compositions, 
before  writing. 

An  outline  may  be  mechanically  expressed  in  various 
ways.     Many  systems  have  been  used,  the  most  conven- 
ient of  which  are  the  brace  system  and  the  Methodsof 
numeral  (or  numeral  and  literal  combined)   expressing 
systems.     A  few  simple  examples  will  suffice 
to  show  how  these  systems  are  used.     An  outline  of  trees 
would  take  the  following  form  in  the  brace  system:  — 


Trees.  * 


Kinds. 


Parts. 


Uses. 


Oak. 


White. 
Red. 
Black,  etc. 


I  Maple. 

[  Walnut,  etc. 

(  Root. 

■<  Trunk. 

(  Branches,  etc. 

(  To  give  shade. 
-j  To  yield  wood. 
(  To  prevent  drought,  etc. 


174 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


The  same  outline  in  one  of  the  commonest  numeral 
systems  would  take  this  form:  — 


Trees. 

I. 

Kinds. 

i.  Oak. 

(i)  White. 

(2)  Red. 

(3)  Black. 

2.   Maple. 

3.   Walnut. 

II. 

Parts. 

1.   Root. 

2.   Trunk. 

3.   Branches. 

III. 

Uses. 

1.   To  give  shade. 

2.   To  yield  wood. 

3.   To  prevent  drought. 

For  brief  outlines  either  is  good.  The  brace  system 
is  especially  serviceable  in  diagrammatic  work,  when 
relations  of  concepts  are  to  be  pictured.  The  objec- 
tions to  the  brace  system  are,  that  it  requires  too  much 
room,  and  it  cannot  be  read  aloud  so  that  a  listener  may 
follow  the  relations  expressed.  The  latter  objection 
disqualifies  it  for  ready  and  general  use  in  class  work. 
The  objection  to  the  numeral  system  shown  above  is, 
it  cannot  readily  be  carried  into  many  subdivisions. 

Long  use  has  shown  that  a  form  of  the  numeral 
system  called  the  exponential  is  the  most  serviceable  for 
all  purposes,  whether  in  the  schoolroom  or  elsewhere. 
The  outline  shown  above  would  be  expressed  by  the 
exponential  system  thus:  — 


OPERATIONS  OF  THE  MIND:  ACQUISITION.     175 


Trees. 

Kinds. 

i2 

Oak. 

i3  White. 

23  Red. 

3J  Black. 

22 

Maple. 

32 

1  *  -l  1-  f  , 

Walnut. 

Jrart! 

i2 

s. 

Roots. 

22 

Trunk. 

32 

Branches. 

Uses 

i3 

To  give  shade. 

22 

To  yield  wood. 

32 

To  prevent  drought. 

A  glance  will  show  that  the  relation  of  concepts  is 
shown  in  this  system  in  two  ways,  —  by  an  exponential 
figure  and  by  position.  The  numeral  expressions  1*, 
2a,  etc.,  are  called  indices :  the  small  figures  are  the  expo- 
nents, and  the  large  figures  are  numerals.  The  expo- 
nents show  the  degree  of  division  or  partition,  and 
mark  the  coordination  and  subordination  of  concepts ; 
and  the  numerals  merely  number  the  items.  The 
exponent,  therefore,  is  the  important  figure. 

This  system  of  outlining  was  invented  by  Dr.  Alfred 
Holbrook  of  Ohio.  Dr.  John  B.  Minor  of  Virginia  also 
worked  out  the  same  system  independently,  except  that 
letters  are  used  as  exponents  ;  and  his  well-known  trea- 
tise on  law  is  outlined  throughout  by  it.  The  illustra- 
tion given  above  would  appear  in  his  letter-exponent 
system  as  shown  at  the  top  of  the  next  page. 


j  76  PS  YCHOL OGY  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

Trees. 
ia  Kinds. 

ib  Oak. 

ic  White. 
2C  Red. 
3C  Black. 
2b  Maple. 
3b  Walnut. 
2a  Parts. 

ib  Roots. 
2b  Trunk. 
3b  Branches. 
3a  Uses. 

ib  To  give  shade. 
2b  To  yield  wood. 
3b  To  prevent  drought. 
The  exponential  system  has  come   into  very  general 
use  in  schools  whose  teaching  is  by  subjects   rather 
than  by  text-books. 

For  the  help  of  those  who  may  be  unfamiliar  with 
this  very  valuable  mechanical  aid  to  orderly  thought 
and  logical  memory,  the  following  rules  are  appended :  — 
(i)  All  indices  having  the  same  exponent  arc  written 
in  the  same  vertical  column.  A  notebook  or  paper  ruled 
both  ways  is  a  great  aid  to  neat  work. 

(2)  At  each  subdivision  of  the  subject,  the  exponent  is 
increased  by  one,  and  the  index  is  written  below  and  a 
little  to  the  right  of  the  beginning  of  the  line  above. 

(3)  Nothing  should  be  written  to  the  left  of  the  index. 
The  application  of  these  simple  rules  will  be  seen  in 

the  examples  of  outlines  here  given.  A  few  other 
illustrations  showing  the  use  of  outlines  as  topic  lists 
in  common  school  subjects  are  given  here. 


OPERATIONS  OP  PHP  MIND:  ACQUISITION.     \JJ 

Grammar. 

i1  Diagraming. 
i2  Value  of. 
22  Systems  of. 

i3  Curved  line. 

23  Straight  line. 

33  Eclectic. 
3"  Models  of. 

21  Analysis. 

i2  Value  of. 
22  Order  of. 
32  Models  of. 

31  Parsing. 

i2  The  Noun. 

22  The  Verb. 

etc. 

Geography. 

i1  Descriptive. 

i2  Location. 
22  Boundaries. 

32  Surface. 

etc. 

21  Physical. 

i2  Physics  of  the  land. 

22  Physics  of  the  water. 

3s  Physics  of  the  atmosphere. 

31  Mathematical. 

i2  Imaginary  circles. 

22  Phenomena  of  day  and  night. 

33  Phenomena  of  the  seasons. 

etc. 
Roark  Psych.—  12. 


lyS  fS  YCHOLOG  V  IN  ED UCA  TION. 

U.  S.  History. 

i1  Colonization,  1000-1776. 

i2  Preparation  or  discovery. 

2"  Settlement. 

32  Consolidation. 
2!   Nationalization,  1776-1876. 

i2  Separation. 

22  Confederation. 

32  Federation. 
31  Renationalization,  1876- 
etc. 

The  reader  is  referred  to  Chapter  II.  of  this  book  for 
a  fuller  exemplification. 

Teachers  should  carefully  keep  sight  of  the  fact  that 
the  real  arrangement  is  in  the  mind,  and  the  mechanical 
outline  is  merely  a  help,  not  an  end  ;  just  as  the  written 
solution  of  a  problem  in  arithmetic  is  merely  the  out- 
ward mechanical  expression  of  what  is  already  analyzed 
mentally.  The  danger  in  using  outlines  is  that  teacher 
and  pupils  are  apt  to  overdo  them,  and  make  them  ends 
instead  of  means. 

Properly  used,  the  outline  is  an  excellent  aid  in  all 
thinking  and  doing,  for  the  faculty  used  in  forming 
and  classifying  concepts  is  judgment.  By  its  power  of 
judging,  the  mind  decides  that  two  objects  or  thoughts 
agree  in  some  respect,  have  a  quality  in  common,  and 
should  be  named  in  the  same  class.  Judgment  is 
constantly  at  work  in  the  process  of  comparison,  classi- 
fication, and  outlining.  This  is  evident  when  it  is 
remembered  that  the  sole  business  of  judgment  is 
to  perceive  relations,  and  that  an  outline  is  the  ex- 
pression of  the  relations  between  concepts. 


OPERATIONS  OF  THE  MIND:  ACQUISITION.     \yg 

Retention. 

Retention  is  the  last  step  in  acquisition,  since  without 
it  no  acquisition  would  be  permanent.  The  faculty  is 
memory,  which  has  been  discussed  already.  A  few 
more  words  may  be  added  here  by  way  of  emphasis. 

Retention  is  directly  proportioned  to  attention. 

Retention  is  directly  proportioned  to  vividness  of  the 
concept. 

Retention,  attention,  and  vividness  are  all  directly 
proportioned  to  interest. 

Newness  is  one  means  of  arousing  interest,  but  it  is 
too  often  overlooked  that  the  mere  fact  of  a  thing 
being  new  does  not  necessarily  arouse  interest.  There 
must  be  enough  of  the  old  (the  already  understood)  in 
any  new  object  or  fact  to  afford  the  mind  a  fulcrum  by 
which  to  lift  it  all  into  comprehension. 

Isolated,  unrelated  facts  are  difficult  to  remember,  and 
usually  are  not  worth  remembering.  It  is  quite  essen- 
tial to  good  retention  that  concepts  be  grouped  accord- 
ing to  some  resemblance  or  some  logical  arrangement. 
This  is  work  for  the  judgment ;  and  it  is  certain  that 
this  faculty  comes  into  exercise,  in  this  and  other  ways, 
very  early  in  the  development  of  the  mind.  Such  work 
of  the  logical  faculty  should  be  encouraged  in  children: 
it  quickens  interest,  and  so  helps  attention. 

Finally,  since  accurate  definition  gives  clearness  and 
distinctness  —  and  so  vividness  —  to  a  concept,  defini- 
tion aids  retention  directly  and  strongly.  These  facts 
may  be  applied  in  everyday  teaching  in  numerous  ways, 
which  the  ingenuity  of  the  teacher  will  constantly 
suggest. 


I  So  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

CULTIVATION  OF  ACQUISITIVE  FACULTIES. 

SINCE  acquisition  supplies  the  mind  with  all  its 
materials  for  thought,  all  its  elements  for  imaginative 
creation,  all  its  data  for  intelligent  action  in  everyday 
affairs,  the  schools  (since  they  are  supposed  to  give  a 
preparation  for  actual  life)  should  carefully  develop  and 
train  the  faculties  engaged  in  the  accumulation  and 
storing'  of  knowledge-material. 

The  outward  per ceptives,  the  physical  senses,  besides 
supplying  materials  out  of  which  all  our  fundamental 
The  senses  concepts  are  formed,  furnish  direct  stimulus 
^Esthetic.  f-0  tile  inner  sense  of  the  beautiful,  the  aes- 
thetic taste.  Through  the  cultivated  senses  much  of 
human  enjoyment  is  gained.  The  cultivated  eye  drinks 
in  the  beauty  of  color  and  forms,  the  trained  ear  de- 
lights in  music,  the  hand  that  has  been  taught  to  figure 
what  the  eye  sees  or  the  imagination  creates  ministers 
to  refined  pleasure.  Enjoyment  gained  through  the 
senses  is  just  as  human,  just  as  legitimate,  and  may  be 
just  as  pure,  as  that  gained  through  what  is  called  the 
"  higher  nature."  In  fact,  the  normal  moral  nature  is 
.Housed  and  stimulated  and  developed,  at  first,  almost 
wholly  through  the  senses.  The  business  of  teachers, 
then,  —  whether  they  teach  in  the  home,  the  school, 
tin  pulpit,  or  through  the  press,  —  is  not  to  decry  and 
degrade  the  pleasure  gained  through  the  senses,  but  to 


CUL  TIVA  TION  OF  A  CQUTSITIVE  FA CUL TIES.    \  g  t 

train  the  mind  to  enjoy  and  appreciate  the  outward 
beauty  of  objects  of  sense  and  the  deeper  beauty  which 
is  only  symbolized  by  this.  Let  children  early  learn 
to  open  wide  every  gateway  of  sense  to  the  incoming 
of  the  beautiful. 

The  judgment  must  be  trained  to  the  quick  and  ac- 
curate perception  of  resemblances  and  differences  in 
the  process  of  conception.  It  should  be  judgment  in 
especially  taught  to  discern  resemblances  of  Acquisition. 
form  and  function,  since  the  classifications  of  highest 
value  in  any  realm  of  knowledge  rest  almost  solely 
upon  these. 

Memory,  the  retentive  faculty,  must  be  developed  so 
that  it  shall  hold  and  recall  what  is  valuable,  and  let  the 
rest  go.  Memory  should  not  be  burdened  Memory  in 
with  all  that  is  learned.  Many  things  not  Acquisition, 
particularly  worth  remembering  have  to  be  learned  in 
order  to  exemplify  and  illustrate,  or  show  the  logical 
connection  of  the  things  that  must  be  remembered. 
Such  subsidiary  matters  it  is  as  well  to  forget,  after  the 
main  facts  are  understood  and  associated  in  memory. 

Kindergartens  and  primary  schools  do  their  work 
in  accordance  with  these  principles  ;  and  the  secondary 
schools,  colleges,  and  universities  are  pretty  generally 
coming  under  the  influences  which  are  determining  the 
direction  and  method  of  the  lower  education. 

Nature  Study. 

One  of  the  best  means  of  cultivating  the  powers  of 
acquisition  is  to  be  found  in  nature  studies.  And  this 
does  not  mean  that  "nature"  is  to  be  brought  into  the 
schoolroom  to  be  studied  (though  that  can  occasionally 


1 82  PSYCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  T/O.Y. 

be  done  with  profit),  but  that  the  school  should  be 
directed  or  taken  to  nature  outdoors. 

It  is  an  important  fact  that  in  just  the  proportion 
that  a  method  or  means  of  right  education  is  valuable 
and  effective  in  skilled  hands,  in  that  proportion  will  it 
degenerate  into  wooden  mechanism  when  improperly 
used.  This  may  help  to  explain  why  there  has  been 
so  much  dreary  nonsense  taught  under  the  names  of 
object  lessons,  nature  studies,  etc.,  when  teachers  and 
pupils  have  tried  to  study  things  taken  out  of  nature 
and  brought  indoors.  Much  good  may  be  derived 
from  the  classroom  or  indoor  study  of  natural  objects, 
but  not  before  there  has  been  much  outdoor  work  done. 

The  country  teacher  has  opportunities  far  beyond 
the  city  teacher  for  cultivating  an  accurate  •observa- 
tion and  refined  appreciation  of  nature.     Let 

Opportuni-     .   .  ....  1  1    •  1         r    1  1  1 

ties  of  the    him  go  with  his  school  into  the  fields  and 
country     woods  that    stretch   before   his  schoolhouse 

Teacher.  . 

door,  and  there  see  all  he  can  nrmself,  and 
get  the  pupils  to  see  all  they  can.  Let  him  strive  to 
open  their  senses  to  the  riches  of  light  and  color  and 
form  and  sound  all  about  them.  Let  him,  by  deft 
questioning,  stimulate  them  to  observe,  compare,  and 
classify  leaves,  stones,  trees,  flowers,  insects, —  all  things, 
animate  and  inanimate,  that  are  found, —  even  if  the 
classification  extends  no  further  than  to  properly  pla- 
cing the  objects  in  the  mineral,  vegetable,  or  animal 
kingdom.  Even  if  the  teacher  knows  nothing  of 
botany,  or  mineralogy,  or  zoology,  he  can  have  leaves 
classified  as  oval,  or  spear-shaped,  or  cordate,  or  round  ; 
as  acute  or  obtuse  ;  as  toothed,  divided,  or  entire.  He 
can  show  that  some  flowers  have  five  petals,  some 
three,  some  none;  that   some  plants  have  stems  and 


CULTIVATION  OF  ACQUISITIVE  FACULTIES.    ^3 

fibrous  roots,  while  others  are  stemless  and  have  bulb- 
ous roots.  He  can  get  his  pupils  interested  to  find 
the  first  flower  in  the  spring,  and  the  last  one  in  the 
autumn;  to  note  those  trees  and  shrubs  that  flower 
before  leafing;  to  observe  how  the  buds  are  covered 
in  autumn,  and  how  they  unfold  in  spring.  He  can 
show  the  differences  between  sand  and  clay,  between 
limestone  and  sandstone,  and  (according  to  location) 
granite  and  marble.  lie  can  point  out  the  form  char- 
acteristics of  insects,  reptiles,  and  higher  animals,  and 
interest  his  pupils  in  studying  their  habits.  The  teacher 
should  also  get  his  pupils  to  observe  and  record  the 
weather  conditions.  One  pupil  can  be  detailed  to  read 
the  thermometer  at  stated  periods  every  day  ;  another, 
to  note  the  direction  of  the  wind;  another,  to  observe 
the  sky,  noting  the  character  and  extent  of  the  cloudi- 
ness; and  so  on.  All  the  pupils  should  make  daily  ob- 
servations at  the  same  time,  carefully  record  them,  and 
compare  the  results  with  the  records  of  those  specially 
appointed.  All  should  be  particularly  instructed  to 
note  and  test  all  local  traditional  weather  signs.  Much 
superstitious  nonsense  can  thus  be  cleared  away,  while 
the  young  people  are  being  taught  to  observe  and 
record  accurately. 

All  these,  and  hundreds  of  other  things  that  these 
may  suggest,  the  teacher  can  do,  with  but  a  little  exer- 
cise of  his  own  powers  of  observing  and  judging,  and  a 
little  reading  of  any  of  the  excellent  elementary  books 
on  science  that  are  now  so  numerous.  And  how  the 
powers  of  his  pupils  to  perceive  and  compare  and  clas- 
sify will  grow  under  such  stimulating  direction!  A 
new  world  will  be  opened  to  both  teacher  and  pupils. 

Some  objects  may  be  brought  back  from  these  little 


1 84  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

observation  tours  to  serve  as  dr diving  models ;  others, 
to  be  neatly  labeled,  and  grouped  in  a  cabinet.  All 
the  acquisitive  faculties  will  be  brought  into  play  by 
such  simple  exercises,  and  every  study  will  reveal  the 
quickened  intellectual  impulse.  Time  will  be  gained, 
for  all  study  will  be  done  with  greater  interest  and  zeal. 
In  childhood  the  acquisitive  powers  are  most  active, 
and  hence  children  should  be  brought  into  such  inti- 
mate and  appreciative  contact  with  nature  that  the 
impress  upon  the  mind  may  be  deep  and  lasting.  The 
need  of  such  training  of  the  senses  is  admirably  set 
forth  in  the  following  quotation  from  Powell,  himself 
one  of  the  keenest  observers  of  nature:  "There  is  ab- 
solutely nothing  in  our  common  school  culture  to  make 
a  child  familiar  with  the  earth,  the  soil,  the  forces,  the 
life,  animal  or  vegetable,  that  he  must  as  a  farmer  deal 
with.  There  is  no  cause  for  wonder  that  the  drift  of 
our  population  is  away  from  farms  into  cities.  That 
which  makes  soil  culture  delightful  is  familiarity  with 
the  chemistry  and  biology  that  surround  us.  To  be 
ignorant  of  the  stones  and  the  clays,  not  even  to  com- 
prehend the  simplest  operations  of  nature  about  us,  is 
to  deaden  farm  life  beyond  endurance." 

Object  Teach  inc. 
But  there  are  numerous  indoor  exercises  for  training 
the  perceptives  of  pupils,  —  exercises  upon  the  weight, 
shape,  size,  surface,  origin,  and  use  of  common  things. 
Geometrical  forms  (triangles,  squares,  circles,  cubes, 
cylinders,  etc.);  the  qualities  and  uses  and  origin  of 
coal,  wood,  glass,  -chalk,  iron, —  these  and  many  other 
such  things  afford  abundant  and  excellent  material  for 
perception   and   conception,  and  will  arouse  and   hold 


CUL  TI VA  TION  OF  A  CQ  U I  SIT  I VE  FA  CUL  TIES.    \  8  5 

the  interest  of  any  child.  Time  may  be  saved,  because 
interest  will  be  intensified,  by  setting  aside  a  few  min- 
utes daily  to  ask  and  answer  such  questions  as  these:  — 

What  is  horn  ?      Where  is  it  obtained? 

What  is  glass  ? 

WJiat  tilings  in  common  use  are  dug  out  of  the  ground? 

What  foods  arc  obtained  from  trees  ? 

What  common  articles  are  made  of  glass  ?  Of  iron  / 
Of  wood?     Of  clay? 

J I  liat  is  soil  ?     How  is  it  made  ? 

}  I  liat  is  frost  ?     Rain  ?     Fog  ?     Ice  ? 

This  work  can  be  done  in  the  primary  grades  in 
"conversation  exercises,"  or  it  may  be  presented  in 
interesting  morning  talks  to  the  whole  school.  In 
either  case,  mechanical  formalism  must  be  carefully 
avoided. 

In  connection  with  the  work  suggested  above,  draw- 
ing and  modeling  can  be  used,  and  should  be  used,  in 
both  country  and  town  schools.  Such  exercises  as  these, 
though  they  are  not  provided  for  in  the  regular  curric- 
ula of  many  primary  schools  outside  the  larger  towns, 
and  though  in  many  instances  they  would  be  opposed 
by  ignorant  Boards  and  parents,  may  nevertheless  be 
used  in  some  form  or  other,  with  more  or  less  frequency, 
by  an  ingenious  teacher  in  any  school. 

Regular  Branches. 
In  addition  to  these  exercises  which  lie  outside  the 
usual  work  of  the  average  school,  there  are  several 
studies  which  are  in  the  list  of  "required  branches" 
that  are  especially  suited  to  the  cultivation  of  the  ac- 
quisitive powers.  These  arc  reading,  spelling,  geog- 
raphy, physiology.     Of   course,  the   beginnings  of  any 


1 86  PS 1  'CHOL OG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TIOX. 

subject  furnish  more  material  for  acquisition  than  for 
any  other  operation  of  the  mind;  but  those  just  named 
do  so,  throughout  both  the  primary  and  advanced  work 
in  them,  in  a  greater  degree  than  the  other  branches. 

Reading,  properly  taught,  may  be  made  to  cultivate 

almost  every  faculty  of  the  human  mind.     It  is  more 

important    than    any    other   branch,   or  —  it 

Reading.  .     .  .  .  .  ., 

might  not  be  too  much  to  say  —  than  all 
other  branches  taught  in  the  common  schools.  It  is 
tJic  key  to  all  stored  knowledge.  It  cultivates  the  powers 
of  acquisition  from  the  first  word  the  child  reads,  through 
a  lifetime  of  mental  growth.  The  child  beginning  to 
read  puts  forth  acquisitive  effort  upon  each  new  word 
met  with ;  and  the  form  of  the  word,  its  pronunciation, 
and  its  meaning,  become  objects  of  perception,  concep- 
tion, and  retention.  When  word  forms  are  sufficiently 
well  mastered  to  enable  the  pupil  to  give  his  thought 
to  the  meanings  of  words  rather  than  to  their  forms, 
then  reading  is  a  means  to  the  limitless  acquisition  of 
new  concepts. 

To  quicken  interest,  develop  memory,  and  to  intro- 
duce the  pupil  to  a  wider  range  of  facts  than  the  regu- 
Su    ]e_     lar  reading  lessons  offer,  two  lines  of  supple- 
mentary    mentary  work  are  excellent,  —  one,  reading 
ing'     from   the  various   nature   books,  geographi- 
cal readers,  etc.,  now  so  abundant;   the  other,  learning 
by  heart  choice  selections  of  the  best  poetry  and  prose 
within  the  comprehension  of  the  pupil.     The  acquisi- 
tion of  real  gems  of  literature  in  this  way  is  especially 
desirable.      What  is  learned  of  good  literature  in  early 
childhood  will  prove  of  the  highest  value  in  later  liter- 
ary  culture.      Thoughts,  words,  and    modes   of  expres- 
sion, learned  while  the  mind  is  highly  acquisitive,  help 


CULTTl  '.I  TION  OF  A  ( 'Q I  'ISITI J  'E  FA  CI  rZ  TIES.    \  $j 

to  mold  the  thought  and  speech  of  the  individual  all 
through  life. 

Spelling  is  a  memory  study,  and  affords  exercise  for 
the  visual,  auditory,  and  muscular  senses.  The  child 
learns  to  spell  best  through  the  eye,  by  ob- 

,  ,       .  .    .  r     i        i  •  Spelling. 

serving  the  relative  positions  ot  the  letters  in 
words  as  he  sees  them.     But  by  writing  words  often, 
the  muscular  effort,  associated  with  the  eye  impressions, 
helps  to  fix  the    form   in    memory.     There  should  be 
much  written  spelling  in  every  school. 

Each  lesson  should  be  made  a  spelling  lesson,  the 
pupil  understanding  that  he  may  be  called  on  to  spell 
any  word  in  any  lesson.  This  training  will  quicken 
and  sharpen  observation  and  retention  of  word  forms. 
Oral  spelling  is  useful  mainly  in  training  the  ear  to 
correct  sounds  of  letters.  It  should  be  used  with  that 
purpose  constantly  in  view.  Oral  spelling  has  but  little 
use  except  to  aid  the  pupil  in  acquiring  correct  enun- 
ciation and  pronunciation.  If  oral  spelling  exercises 
are  not  directed  to  these  ends,  they  are  of  little  use. 

Geography,  if  taught  solely  from  a  text-book  (as  it 
almost  universally  is,  even  in  primary  schools),  is  almost 
wholly  a  memory  study,  affording  material 

■       1-1  •  r  i  \  ii        Geography. 

mainly  lor  the  retentive  faculty.  As  usually 
taught,  it  affords  cultivation  only  incidentally  for  imagi- 
nation, and  almost  not  at  all  for  observation.  But  since, 
in  the  case  of  children,  ready-made  concepts  are  worth 
little  or  nothing,  it  will  be  found  that  geography  is  best 
taught  objectively.  The  class  should  be  taken  out- 
doors often,  and  be  shown  watersheds,  the  formation  of 
streams,  islands,  deltas,  capes,  etc.  Any  stream,  or  even 
the  street  or  the  "big  road"  after  a  shower,  will  furnish 
proper  material  for  such  observation  lessons. 


1 88  PS  YCHOLOG  V  IN  ED  UCA  T/OAT. 

In  mathematical  geography,  observation  should  be 
trained  by  use  of  a  globe  or  ball ;  in  political  geogra- 
phy, by  use  of  maps  and  by  map  drawing;  in  economic 
and  physical  geography,  by  making  relief  maps,  with 
actual  products  placed  upon  them.  All  this  is  trite 
enough,  and  has  been  said  numberless  times  by  num- 
berless writers  and  speakers  on  educational  subjects; 
but  it  will  bear  repeating  and  re-repeating  until  a  ma- 
jority of  teachers  act  upon  the  psychological  principle 
involved,  —  that  concepts  are  best  gained  by  children 
through  percepts,  and  these  are  gained  through  the 
senses. 

What  has  been  said  of  geography  as  an  acquisition 

study  may  be  said  with  equal  force  of  physiology.     The 

pupils  themselves,  their  daily  habits  and  ac- 

ysio  ogy.  f.jvj£jes^  are  t|ie  best  apparatus  for  teaching 

physiology  in  the  primary  schools.  The  study  of  physi- 
ology involves  mainly  the  faculties  of  observation  and 
retention  ;  and,  if  proper  opportunity  and  stimulus  be 
given  for  observation,  memory  will  readily  retain  the 
percepts  and  concepts  acquired.  Material  for  the  study 
of  muscle,  nerve,  and  bone,  may  be  had  in  the  pupils' 
lunch  baskets;  that  for  the  study  of  other  structures  — 
joints,  lungs  and  trachea,  heart,  etc.  —  may  be  secured 
from  any  meat  shop,  or  in  the  country  when  the  win- 
ter's killing  is  being  done.  The  pupils  themselves  fur- 
nish the  best  means  of  illustrating  human  anatomy  and 
physiology.  No  text-book  is  needed  for  the  success- 
ful teaching  of  physiology  in  primary  grades;  but,  if 
one  is  used,  its  statements  should  be  verified  and  illus- 
trated by  what  the  pupils  can  perceive  of  their  own 
organism,  and  by  their  own  good  or  bad  habits  of  eat- 
ing, sleeping,  breathing,  sitting,  etc. 


cul  tiva  tion  of  a  cq uisiti i  re  fa  cul  ties.   \  89 

Elements  of  All  Branches. 

Formal  teaching  in  school  should  not  begin  in  the 
case  of  children,  as  a  rule,  until  they  are  seven  years 
old.  This  is  true  because  formal  teaching  should  not 
begin  until  there  is  a  large  store  of  percepts  and  con- 
cepts ready  in  the  child's  mind  to  be  used  by  the" 
teacher.  The  child  enters  school  with  the  elements  of 
all  knowledge  already  acquired :  it  remains  for  the 
teacher  to  ascertain,  in  each  individual  case,  how  ex- 
tensive this  stock  of  knowledge  is,  and  to  use  it  as  a 
basis  for  all  further  acquisition.  The  concepts  the 
child  has  already  acquired  before  coming  to  school  are 
quite  different  from  those  he  is  expected  to  acquire 
during  his  first  days  at  school.  By  all  means,  this 
difference  should  be  reduced  to  a  minimum.  Con- 
cepts familiar  to  the  child  must  be  used  to  explain  and 
illustrate  new  concepts:  the  new  must  ever  be  inter- 
preted in  terms  of  the  familiar. 

A  new  subject  or  a  new  lesson  should  be  introduced 
by  a  sound  drill  upon  the  meanings  and  uses  of  the 
unfamiliar  terms  involved.  Attention  is  to  be  directed 
to  new  words  in  the  next  reading  lesson;  to  plus,  add, 
sum,  etc.,  when  addition  is  begun  ;  to  nouns  as  names 
with  which  the  pupil  is  already  familiar,  etc.  General 
definitions  and  rules  should  be  ventured  upon  only 
when  the  teacher  is  sure,  from  many  and  varied  tests, 
that  the  pupil  knows  the  thing  to  be  defined,  or  the 
process  to  be  described.  No  commoner  or  more  vicious 
blunder  is  made  in  teaching  than  to  give  words  before 
t/iiugs,  rules  before  processes. 

Each  stud\r  has  its  own  terms,  more  or  less  technical, 
its  own  principles,  and  its  own  peculiar  set  of  new  ideas. 


ICp 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


Such  of  these  as  are  fundamental  must  be  mastered  by 
the  pupil.  He  must  acquire  them,  form  the  proper 
concepts,  and  hold  them  in  memory  ready  for  prompt 
recall  when  needed. 

What?  When?  Where?  —  these  three  are  preemi- 
nently the  "questions  of  acquisition,"  and  should  be 
used  to  exercise  the  pupil's  power  to  perceive,  to  form 
concepts,  to  define,  and  to  remember.  The  teaching 
teacher  will  devise  many  means  of  so  stimulating  the 
curiosity  of  the  pupils  that  they  will  often  and  perti- 
nently ask  these  questions  of  the  teacher  and  of  them- 
selves. What  is  it,  where  is  it,  whence  is  it,  in  nature 
study  and  object  drills;  what  is  it,  in  reading  and 
spelling;  what  is  it  and  ivhcn  was  it,  in  history,  —  this 
will  serve  as  a  hint  of  how  such  questions  may  be  con- 
stantly and  profitably  used  in  acquisition  exercises  and 
studies. 


A  SSI  MI  LA  I  ION ;  COX  CEP  I  ION,  RE  A  SON  J  A  G.       191 


CHAPTER   XV. 

ASSIMILATION:   CONCEPTION,  REASONING. 

Assimilation  may  be  defined  in  its  narrower  sense 
as  the  operation  of  the  faculty  of  judgment  in  perceiv- 
ing and  formulating  relations:  (1)  relations  General 
of  percepts,  (2)  relations  of  concepts,  and  (3)  Defin,tlon- 
the  relations  of  these  relations.  But  there  is  a  broader 
sense  in  which  the  term  assimilation  may  be  used.  It 
means  self-building,  and  so  includes  those  processes 
which  produce  character.  Just  as  physical  assimilation 
of  food  produces  new  muscle  and  bone  and  nerve  fiber, 
so  mental  assimilation  results  in  new  thoughts,  new 
ideals,  new  purposes, —  a  more  vigorous  intellectual  and 
moral  growth. 

Conception. 

Of  assimilation  in  this  sense,  conception  (often  called 
now  apperception)  is  the  first  step.  The  process  of  con- 
ception is  assimilative,  because  it  is  essentially  a  pro- 
cess of  likening  newly  observed  phenomena,  whether 
objective  or  subjective,  to  one  another,  and  to  some 
part  of  our  body  of  knowledge  already  gathered,  —  of 
fitting  them  into  their  places  as  determined  by  resem- 
blances to  what  we  already  know.  Conception  is  the 
connecting  process  between  acquisition  and  assimila- 
tion :  it  is  the  chief  process  in  acquisition,  the  most 
elementary  in  assimilation.  It  has  received  considera- 
tion in  Chapter  XIII. 


192 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  770 JV. 


Reasoning. 


The  next  process  in  assimilation  is  reasoning,  which 
may  be  formally  defined  as  that  process  by  which  we 
reach  conclusions.  The  faculty  concerned  in  the  essen- 
tial act  of  reasoning  is  judgment,  but  it  makes  use  of 
all  that  the  other  faculties  can  supply.  Through  per- 
ception and  conception  the  "raw  materials"  of  our 
conclusions  are  collected.  Imagination  frames  other 
possible  concepts  and  relations;  and  judgment  selects, 
compares,  discriminates,  combines,  and  concludes. 
Since  our  business,  our  politics,  our  religion,  our  daily 
conduct  in  all  lines  of  activity  in  which  we  may  be  en- 
gaged, are  based  on  our  conclusions,  it  is  evident  that 
the  habit  of  reasoning  rapidly  and  accurately  should  be 
formed  early  and  thoroughly. 

The  perception  and  formulation  of  relations  between 
concepts  was  presented  in  one  of  its  phases  in  "  Out- 
lining." Another  phase  is  the  formulation  of  proposi- 
tions ;  as,  "Man  is  an  animal,"  "Snow  is  white,"  "Ac- 
tivity is  delightful."     Such  formulated  propositions  are 

Kinds  of  usually  called  judgments,  taking  the  name 
judgments.  from  the  faculty.  Logicians  name  several 
kinds  of  judgments,  —  affirmative,  negative,  analytic, 
synthetic,  singular,  universal,  implicit. 

An  affirmative  judgment  is  based  on  a  perception  of 
likeness  or  identity,  and  declares  something  to  be  so; 
as,  "  Mind  is  a  growth." 

A  negative  judgment  is  based  on  the  perception  of 
difference,  and  declares  something  not  to  be  so;  as, 
"  Memorizing  is  not  learning." 

An  analytic  judgment  affirms  the  relations  of  parts 
to  parts,  or  of  parts  to  a  whole  separable  into  these 


A  SSI  MI  LA  T10N:  REASONING. 


193 


parts.  It  proceeds  from  wholes  to  parts.  The  analysis 
of  a  sentence  is  a  good  example 

A  synthetic  judgment  affirms  the  relations  of  parts 
to  parts  as  composing  and  completing  the  whole.  It 
proceeds  from  parts  to  wholes.  Parsing,  properly  done, 
is  a  fair  example,  the  several  words  being  described  in 
their  relation  to  the  whole  sentence.  To  say  that 
oxygen  and  hydrogen  compose  water  is  to  express  a 
synthetic  judgment.  The  classification  of  individuals 
into  species,  species  into  families,  families  into  orders, 
etc.,  in  botany  and  zoology,  affords  another  illustration. 
Judgment  is  at  work  synthetically  also  when  it  is 
generalizing,  —  going  from  particulars  to  wholes,  as  in 
inductive  reasoning. 

A  singular  judgment  is  one  that  affirms  or  denies 
something  of  a  single  thing,  an  individual ;  as,  "  This 
man  is  ill." 

A  universal  judgment  is  one  that  affirms  or  denies 
something  of  a  whole  class  of  things  ;  as,  "All  men  are 
liars." 

An  implicit  judgment  is  an  unconscious,  or  at  least 
unformulated,  perception  of  relation.  If  I  think  or 
say,  "This  is  an  apple,"  I  implicitly  affirm,  "This  object 
is  like  other  objects  called  apples,  and  is  therefore  to 
be  named  apple." 

The  natural  tendency  of  the  mind,  in  child  or  adult, 
is  first  in  the  direction  of  affirmative  and  universal 
judgments;  that  is,  the  mind  naturally  first  seeks  re- 
semblances, and  affirmative  judgments  are  based  upon 
these.  And  although  the  child  must  for  some  time 
make  individual  judgments,  yet,  as  experience  widens, 
he  is,  by  natural  tendency,  prone  to  make  affirmations 
that  are  widely  general.  The  mind  is  always  desirous 
Roark  Psych. — 13. 


194 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


of  reaching  conclusions  of  the  widest  possible  applica- 
bility. 

The  comparison  of  two  or  more  judgments  or  propo- 
sitions, perceiving  their  relations,  and  formulating  these 
relations  into  another  proposition,  is  the  form 
of  reasoning  called  deduction.  The  formal 
expression  of  an  argument  in  this  kind  of  reasoning  is 
a  syllogism  or  series  of  syllogisms.  A  syllogism  fully 
expressed  is  made  up  of  three  propositions.  To  illus- 
trate:— 

All  sheep  are  woolly, 
This  animal  is  a  sheep, 
Therefore  this  animal  is  woolly. 

This  will  serve  as  a  fair  specimen  of  the  syllogism 
as  usually  presented. 

The  first  and  second  propositions  of  a  syllogism  are 
called  premises;  the  third,  the  conclusion.  Each  of  the 
three  is  a  statement  of  a  perceived  relation,  and  is 
therefore  the  result  of  an  act  of  judging.  In  the  ex- 
ample given,  the  first  proposition  is  the  statement  of  a 
relation  between  sheep  and  ivoolliness ;  the  second,  of  a 
relation  between  a  certain  animal  and  the  class  called 
sheep ;  the  third  is  a  statement  of  a  relation  between 
the  two  relations  stated  in  the  first  and  second. 

An  enthymeme  is  a  syllogism  with  one  of  its  premises 
suppressed;  as,  "She  will  talk,  being  a  woman."  The 
The  Enthy-  major  premise,  "All  women  will  talk,"  is  sup- 
meme.      pressed. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  the  regular  syllo- 
gism is  not  used  in  practical  deductive  reasoning.  Most 
of  even  formal  arguments  are  expressed  in  enthymemes. 
One  can  become  a  lucid  and  exact  reasoner  without 


A  SSI  Mil.  A  riON :  REASONING. 


195 


ever  having  seen  a  syllogism ;  and  it  is  somewhat 
doubtful  whether  a  knowledge  of  formal  logic  is  an 
aid  in  a  real  search  for  truth.  What  has  so  far  been 
said  of  deduction  is  rather  by  way  of  warning,  that  the 
teacher  may  avoid  formalism.    Another  form 

1        1        r  •  •  11      1      •      7  Induction. 

or  method  of  reasoning  is  called  induction. 
Deduction  means  drawing  down  from,  drawing  out 
a  conclusion  from  general  or  individual  propositions 
already  stated.  Induction  means  drawing  in  a  con- 
clusion into  a  number  of  related  facts,  thus  correlating 
them,  and  bringing  them  under  a  general  law.  Deduc- 
tion is  making  a  special  application  of  some  general 
principle  or  fact,  as  in  the  syllogism  on  p.  194.  Induc- 
tion is  generalizing  from  a  number  of  particular  cases 
to  a  general  principle  applying  to  all  of  them  and  to  all 
like  them. 

We  observe  the  absence  of  upper  incisors  in  this  cow, 
in  that  one,  and  in  others,  and  draw  the  conclusion  that 
"  all  cows  lack  the  upper  incisors."  We  find  from 
observation  that  heat  expands  iron  and  gold  and  plati- 
num: we  conclude  that  "heat  expands  all  metals." 

The  three  chief  aids  to.  correct  induction  are  experi- 
ence, observation,  experimentation.  Experience  is  the 
memory  of  what  happens  to  one's  self;  ob-  Aids  to 
servation  is  taking  careful  note  of  facts  that  induction, 
occur  in  the  everyday  course  of  nature;  experimenta- 
tion is  causing  things  to  occur  in  a  certain  order  or 
relation,  under  given  conditions,  and  noting  the  results. 
Sociology  (history  and  civics)  as  a  science  is  made  up 
of  inductions  from  experience ;  geography,  geology, 
biology  and  its  subdivisions,  are  built  on  inductions 
from  observation  ;  physics  and  chemistry  are  preemi- 
nently the  experimental  sciences. 


196 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


All  three  methods  of  induction  may  be  applied  in  a 
study  of  the  science  and  art  of  education.  At  first, 
teaching  was  purely  a  matter  of  experience,  an  empiri- 
cal calling;  then  it  became  observational,  the  teacher 
taking  intelligent  note  of  the  results  of  his  own  methods 
and  of  the  methods  of  others ;  now  many  experiments 
in  education  are  being  carefully  tried  everywhere  and 
the  results  recorded.  Upon  these  three  pillars  —  expe- 
rience, observation,  experimentation  —  the  true  science 
of  education  will  rest. 

The  grandest  generalizations  in  science,  the  most 
splendid  discoveries  of   natural   law,  have  been   made 

value  of  through  induction.  The  laws  of  gravitation, 
induction.  t}le  nebular  hypothesis,  the  evolutionary  hy- 
pothesis,—  these  are  illustrations  of  what  the  patient 
accumulation  of  facts  and  the  persistent  seeking-out  and 
formulating  of  their  relations  have  accomplished.  The 
universality  of  law  is  another  of  the  great  scientific  in- 
ductions. It  embodies  the  truths  that  all  phenomena 
happen  in  accord  with  fixed  laws,  and  that  the  same 
kinds  of  phenomena  are  governed  by  similar  laws. 
Upon  this  generalization  rest  many  other  scientific 
truths  and  theories.  Approximate  proof  of  the  uni- 
versality of  law  could  not  have  been  arrived  at  through 
deduction,  for  there  was  nothing  to  deduce  from.  It  was 
reached  only  through  wide  and  intelligent  observation 
of  natural  phenomena  of  every  kind. 

The  theory  of  the  conservation  and  correlation  of 
energy  is  another  example  of  induction  of  the  highest 
order.  The  discovery  that  all  forces  may  be  changed 
into  one  another  —  that  electricity  may  be  converted 
into  heat  or  into  light,  that  gravitation  may  be  con- 
verted into  heat  or  electricity,  etc.  —  could  have  been 


A  SSI  Afl  LA  TION ' :  REASONING. 


1 97 


made  only  by  observation  and  experience  of  a  large 
number  of  such  transformations,  supplemented  by  care- 
ful and  exact  experimentation. 

In  the  common  affairs  of  life,  induction  is  as  much 
used,  and  is  as  important,  as  in  the  widest  ranges  of 
scientific  investigation,  and  its  methods  are  the  same. 
When  we  say  such  a  man  is  not  to  be  trusted,  such  a 
business  method  is  sure  to  result  disastrously,  or  such 
a  line  of  conduct  is  immoral,  we  simply  announce  special 
applications  of  the  conclusions  we  have  inductively 
reached. 

Induction  builds  a  broader  basis  for  our  individual 
and  social  morality.  The  establishment  of  our  ethical 
relations  to  the  lower  animals  ;  the  duties  of  society  to 
the  unemployed,  the  incompetent,  and  the  weak ;  the 
principles  upon  which  social  reforms  are  being  worked 
out,  —  all  are  arrived  at,  tested,  and  corrected  through 
induction. 

It  is  easy  to  show  that  all  reasoning  is  based  upon 
induction.  Take,  as  illustration,  geometry,  which  may 
fairly  be  considered  sufficiently  abstract  to 

.  1.1      Induction 

serve  as  a  test  —  unless  we  put  mathematical        and 
reasoning  in  a   class  by   itself,  as   Hopkins   Deduction 

.  „,.  1        1       r  •  compared. 

does,  i  he  method  of  argument  in  geometry 
runs  as  follows,  if  carried  out  in  full :  the  sum  of  all  the 
angles  of  this  triangle  is  two  right  angles  ;  this  is  true 
of  a  second  and  third  triangle,  and  of  all  triangles  that 
have  been  seen.  Therefore,  since  these  represent  all 
possible  triangles,  the  sum  of  the  angles  of  any  triangle 
is  two  right  angles. 

In  any  form  of  the  syllogism  (the  formal  instrument 
of  the  deductive  method),  the  value  of  a  conclusion 
depends  solely  upon  the  truth  of  the  premises.     Of  the 


198 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


truth  of  the  premises  we  can  have  no  evidence  whatever, 
as  a  rule,  except  through  induction. 

In  the  syllogism,  "All  cows  lack  upper  incisors,  this 
animal  is  a  cow,  therefore  it  lacks  upper  incisors,"  the 
first  premise  rests  wholly  on  induction,  and  cannot  pos- 
sibly be  reached  by  deduction.  It  is  not  intended  to 
say  that  deduction  is  not  of  high  value;  but  it  is 
intended  to  say  that  deduction  is  of  value  in  direct 
proportion  to  the  thoroughness  of  the  induction  which 
must  in  every  case  precede  it,  and  establish  its  premises. 
Through  the  laws  of  gravitation  reached  by  inductive 
processes,  the  existence  and  position  of  heavenly  bodies, 
unknown  before  the  discovery  of  these  laws,  have  been 
accurately  deduced.  But  it  is  plain  that  it  would  be 
utterly  impossible  to  make  such  deductions  were  it  not 
for  the  previous  induction.  The  relative  methods  and 
values  of  the  two  forms  of  reasoning  may  be  summed 
up  as  follows:  — 

Induction  proceeds  from  particular  cases  to  the  gen- 
eral laws  or  principles  governing  all  such  cases.  It  is 
aided  by  observation,  experience,  and  experimentation. 
It  furnishes  the  materials  and  the  general  rules  for  the 
solution  of  special  problems  which  may  present  them- 
selves in  everyday  life.  "The  method,  rightly  under- 
stood and  practiced,  leads  straight  to  truth.  It  is  the 
patient,  candid,  impartial,  universal  method  of  modern 
science." 

Deduction  proceeds  from  generals  to  particulars:  it 
draws  out  of  the  general  principle  an  application  to,  or 
explanation  of,  a  given  special  case.  It  is  the  method  of 
fitting  our  experiences  to  the  requirements  of  our  every- 
day lives,  and  to  the  puzzling  questions  that  arise  for 
settlement  in  business,  politics,  or  ethics. 


A  SSI  MI  LA  riON :  RE  A  SONING. 


199 


The  error  we  need  to  guard  against  most,  in  reach- 
fng  conclusions,  is  generalizing  from  insufficient  data, 
which  means  jumping  at  conclusions  before  Hast 
enough  facts  are  known.  The  human  mind  Generaii- 
has  a  strong  natural  tendency,  especially 
observable  in  the  young  and  in  the  untrained,  to  formu- 
late general  t  rut  lis,  to  reach  working  rules  of  action,  be- 
fore enough  particular  cases  have  been  noted  to  justify 
a  conclusion.  This  tendency  needs  restraining  and 
directing,  and  careful  disciplining.  The  desire  to  formu- 
late general  truth,  mingled  with  the  taint  of  superstition 
which  is  inherent  in  every  human  mind,  leads  to  such 
absurd  beliefs  as  that  the  moon's  phases  affect  the  shin- 
gles of  a  roof,  the  making  of  soap,  or  the  planting  of 
seeds;  that  ill  luck  follows  carrying  a  hoe  through  the 
house,  or  breaking  a  mirror,  or  spilling  salt,  etc.  There 
is  no  more  profitable  thing  the  teacher  can  do  than  to 
help  explode  these  beliefs,  by  having  his  older  pupils 
keep  careful  record  of  actual  results  as  observed  by 
themselves.  Besides  showing  the  absurdity  of  these 
prevalent  superstitions,  such  a  plan  would  greatly  stimu- 
late the  ability  and  desire  of  the  pupils  to  collate  facts, 
and  to  draw  their  own  conclusions. 

Cultivating  the  Power  to  Reason. 

Correct  reasoning  (correct  judging)  depends  upon 
careful  and  accurate  observation  and  accumulation  of 
all  facts  that  may  have  a  bearing  upon  the  matter  in 
hand,  and  upon  the  power  to  perceive  quickly  and  cor- 
rectly the  true  relations  of  the  facts. 

Teachers  should  train  their  pupils  to  observe  intelli- 
gently, and  with  interest  wide  awake,  all  facts  that 
come  in  their  way.     Then,  with  the  questions  Why? 


200  S"S  YCHOLOG  V  IN  EDUCA  TION. 

and  How  ?  (preeminently  assimilation  questions,  as 
What  ?  When  ?  Where  f  are  acquisition  questions,) 
young  minds,  already  on  edge  with  curiosity,  may  be 
led  to  discern  relations  accurately  and  to  draw  conclu- 
sions correctly.  Nothing  is  more  needed  in  the  practi- 
cal life  of  to-day  than  the  power  to  face  facts,  and  rea- 
son upon  them.  It  is  due  to  the  neglect  of  cultivating 
the  power  to  reason  inductively  —  a  neglect  too  preva- 
lent still  in  formal  education,  from  the  primary  school 
to  the  university  —  that  the  master  of  arts  is  not  always, 
by  any  means,  master  of  t 'he  situation. 

There  are  two  obstacles  to  the  proper  training  of  the 

reasoning  faculty  (judgment)  in  schools.     One  is  the 

habit,  fixed  upon  so  many  teachers,  of  slav- 

Obstacles. 

ishly  following  the  text-book  instead  of  draw- 
ing largely  upon  the  practical  experiences  of  everyday 
life  outside  the  schoolroom  for  teaching  material.  The 
other  is  the  tendency  of  both  teachers  and  pupils,  in 
their  hurry  to  cover  a  certain  number  of  lessons  in  a 
given  time,  to  make  "  getting  a  lesson  "  mean  commit- 
ting it  to  memory,  whether  it  be  understood  or  not. 
Memorizing  is  quick  and  easy:  thinking  out  and  telling 
why  and  how  are  hard.  Speaking  of  the  practice  of 
memorizing  (rather  than  reasoning  upon)  the  facts  in 
different  studies,  President  Eliot  forcibly  says,  "  No 
amount  of  such  studies  will  protect  one  from  believing 
in  astrology  or  theosophy.  .  .  .  One  is  fortified 
against  the  acceptance  of  unreasonable  propositions 
only  by  skill  in  determining  facts  through  observation 
and  experience,  by  practice  in  comparing  facts  or  groups 
of  facts,  and  by  the  unvarying  habit  of  questioning  and 
verifying  allegations,  and  of  distinguishing  between 
facts  and  inferences  from  facts." 


ASSIMILATION:  REASONING.  201 

There  are  main-  exercises,  both  in  and  out  of  the  text- 
books, that  may  be  used  to  develop  and  train  the  judg- 
ment, even  of  children.      Here,  as  in  cultivat- 

Use  of 

ing  the  acquisitive  powers,  the  best  material  Common 
will  be  found  in  common  things.  To  too  Thin£s- 
many  teachers  common  things  are  commonplace,  but  not 
so  to  the  child  ;  not  at  least  until  he  has  gone  to  school 
long  enough  to  have  his  intelligent  curiosity  repressed 
and  blunted.  The  child  begins  early  to  ask  why  and 
how ;  and  the  teacher  should  take  the  hint,  ask  these 
questions  often  of  the  pupils,  and  direct  their  use  of 
them.  A  few  minutes  each  day,  or  less  often,  as  time 
allows,  can  be  used  to  no  better  purpose  than  to  quicken 
the  child's  curiosity,  and  his  power  to  investigate,  give 
reasons,  and  draw  conclusions,  by  questions 

.  ,  Illustrations. 

upon  common  facts,  and  later  by  simple  ex- 
periments with   common   things.     A  few  illustrations 
may  be  suggestive  :  — 

Why  do  we  UgJit  a  fire  from  the  bottom  ? 

What  would  happen  if  ice  zvcre  heavier  than  water  f 

Why  are  wheat  stems  hollow  f 

Why  does  water  flow  down  hill? 

Why  does  a  lamp  smoke  when  the  top  of  the  chimney 
is  covered? 

Why  does  not  wood  sink  ? 

Hozu  is  a  nail  held  in  wood  ? 

Why  docs  rain  fall  in  drops  ? 

Why  is  there  no  hoarfrost  on  a  cloudy  night  ? 

What  causes  the  moisture  on  the  outside  of  a  vessel  of 
cold  loafer  on  a  warm  day  ? 

Why  can  we  see  the  breath  in  10 inter,  and  not  in  sum- 
mer ? 

When  experiments  are  used,  they  should  be  of  the 


202  PS  YCHOL  OGY  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

simplest  nature,  should  often  be  performed  by  the  pu- 
pils themselves,  and  should  quicken  perception  as  well 
as  judgment.  Only  one  or  two  examples  of  such 
experiments  need  be  given  here  :  the  ingenuity  of  the 
teacher  will  suggest  many  more. 

On  some  cool  day,  when  the  schoolroom  is  heated, 
open  the  door  to  a  crack  about  an  inch  wide.  Hold  a 
lighted  match  or  bit  of  burning  paper  near  the  crack, 
at  the  top,  while  a  pupil  holds  a  similar  light  near  the 
bottom.  Have  the  pupils  note  the  directions  in  which 
the  flames  are  turned,  —  one  in,  the  other  out.     Why? 

Fill  a  glass  with  water  to  the  brim.  About  a  half 
pound  of  small  nails  can  be  dropped  into  it  slowly 
without  running  the  water  over.     Why? 

The  text-book  branches  specially  adapted  to  culti- 
vating the   reflective  power  are  arithmetic,  grammar, 

Reflective    advanced  Jiistory,   and  civics.     The  greatest 

studies,  stress  has  usually  been  laid  on  arithmetic  for 
this  purpose,  but  it  is  not  the  best  study  for  training 
judgment.  Successful  practical  living  requires  a  judg- 
ment trained  to  infer  correctly  from  probabilities  ; 
arithmetic  cultivates  the  power  only  to  reason  from 
certainties  to  certainties.  The  same  is  true  of  mathe- 
matics from  arithmetic  up. 

The  study  of  arithmetic  may  all  too  easily  become  a 

memory-cramming,    answer-getting    mechanism.       No 

training  for  judgment  can  be  found  in  arith- 

Arithmetic.  ,  .  .  . 

metic  unless  a  careful  distinction  be  made,  in 

the  statement  of  every  problem,  between  the  quanti- 
ties given  and  those  required;  and  unless  every  step 
in  the  solution  is  logically  based  on  a  previous  step, 
or  on  one  or  more  of  the  given  conditions:  hence  the 
necessity  for  much  oral  work  in  arithmetic,  and  for  re- 


ASSIMILATION :  REASONING.  203 

quiring  pupils  to  follow  a  logical  form  in  their  written 
solutions.  At  every  step  in  arithmetic,  "  Why  is  this 
true?"  and  "  How  was  that  obtained?"  should  be  asked 
by  the  teacher,  until  telling  the  why  and  how  becomes 
a  fixed  habit  in  the  pupil.  Of  course,  processes  should 
be  taught  before  rules,  and  answers  should  be  often 
verified. 

Grammar  is  especially  adapted  to  the  cultivation  of 
the  reflective  faculty  in  pupils  old  enough  to  use  a  text- 
book in  the  study  of  that  subject.      Tech- 

.  .         ,  .        .  „  .  Grammar. 

meal  grammar  is  elementary  logic.  Diagram- 
ing and  parsing,  which  are  coming  again  into  favor  as 
school  exercises,  and  which  should  never  have  gone 
out,  cannot  be  done  correctly  unless  the  meaning  of 
the  sentence  be  grasped ;  and  this  cannot  be  done  un- 
less the  true  relations  of  the  words  and  phrases  to  the 
concepts  they  name,  and  to  one  another,  be  clearly 
seen.  If  this  could  be  kept  in  view  in  all  teaching  of 
technical  grammar,  the  work  could  never  degenerate 
into  a  parsing  grind.  There  is  more  valuable  discipline 
for  the  relational  faculty  in  thorough  drill  in  diagram- 
ing and  analyzing  the  English  sentence  than  in  arith- 
metical analysis. 

History  and  civics,  from  the  time  they  may  be  profit- 
ably taught  from  text-books,  are  of  the  highest  prac- 
tical value  in  the  education  of  judgment.  History 
They  afford  ever-recurring  occasions  for  ask-  and  civics. 
ing  questions  that  stimulate  the  reflective  power  of 
the  pupils.  To  teach  history  without  training  the 
judgment  of  the  pupil  is  merely  to  stuff  his  memory 
with  valueless  facts,  —  valueless,  because  their  relations 
are  not  perceived,  their  causes  are  not  understood. 

If  it  is  true  that  no  fact  is  of  value  in  itself,  standing 


204 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


unrelated  with  other  facts,  it  is  especially  true  in  his- 
tory. The  facts  of  human  civilization,  of  the  origin 
and  growth  of  those  things  that  we  call  government 
and  religion  and  liberty  and  science  and  art,  —  these 
are  the  facts  of  supremest  value  to  every  citizen, 
whether  young  or  old ;  but  they  are  valuable  only  as 
they  are  related  to  one  another  and  to  our  own  insti- 
tutions. It  will  not  do  to  merely  instruct  boys  and 
girls  in  the  facts  of  history,  on  the  supposition  that 
they  will  learn  of  themselves  to  correlate  and  explain 
these  facts  as  judgment  grows  more  mature.  The 
pupil  must  be  taught  to  think  from  the  start,  if  he 
is  to  do  much  good  thinking  later  in  life.  The  facts 
imparted  must  be,  in  number  and  kind,  suited  to  the 
advancement  of  the  pupil ;  and  he  should  be  led  to 
seek  for  and  find,  with  the  teacher's  aid,  the  causes  of 
events.  It  is  well  to  take  some  time  from  fact-get- 
ting to  investigate  with  classes  in  United  States  history 
and  civics  such  questions  as:  — 

Why  are  the  North  American  red  men  called  Indians  ? 

Why  has  Rhode  Island  two  capitals? 

Why  7vas  the  government  under  the  Articles  of  Con- 
federation a  failure  t 

Why  did  not  the  North  continue  to  ozuu  slaves  as  long 
as  the  South  did? 

\  1 7/  r  should  each  State  have  two  senators  in  Congress  ? 

Would  a  republican  form  of  government  be  good  for 
even'  eon ntry  ? 

Why  was  the  "  Monroe  Doctrine"  proclaimed? 

Why  do  the  New  England  States  have  so  many  manu- 
facturing industries  ? 

Why  di>  more  railroads  run  east  ami  west  than  run 
north  and  south  ? 


A  SSIMIl.A  TION :  RE  A  SONING. 


205 


Is  it  zvisc  to  elect  judicial  officers  ? 

Arc  parties  essential  to  good  government  ? 

Why  do  the  United  States  have  a  flag? 

While  the  studies  above  mentioned  are  especially 
suited  to  cultivate  the  thought  powers,  any  study  may 
be  made  to  do  so  if  taught  by  the  inductive  method. 
Get  the  pupil  to  observe  and  study  facts  and  processes, 
and  then  to  make  his  ozuu  definitions  and  rules. 

It  will  bear  repeating,  that  the  conclusions  which  we 
look  upon  as  most  valuable,  and  upon  which  our  daily 
actions  in  any  line  of  work  are  based,  are  drawn  by 
induction  either  directly  or  indirectly  from  accumulated 
experience.  Then,  if  the  man  or  woman  is  expected  to 
be  independent  and  self-reliant,  to  think  clearly  and 
decide  wisely,  the  boy  or  girl  must  be  trained  to  accu- 
rate observation  of  facts,  and  to  judicial  reflection  upon 
their  relations  and  bearings. 

Definitions  and  rules,  in  life  as  in  grammar,  in  morals 
as  in  mathematics,  are  but  the  generalizations  of  many 
particulars;  and  as  the  student  of  arithmetic  cannot 
work  independently  until  he  can  generalize  his  own 
rules  out  of  familiar  processes,  so  the  citizen  cannot  be 
independent  in  character  and  living  until  he  can  gen- 
eralize his  rules  of  conduct  out  of  the  experiences  of 
human  life. 


206  ?S  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  T10N. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

ASSIMILATION  :  IMAGINING. 

In  Chapter  IX.  the  distinction  between  memory  and 
imagination,  and  the  functions  and  value  of  the  latter 
faculty,  were  presented  at  some  length.  In  this  chap- 
ter it  is  proposed  to  attend  more  to  the  processes  of 
constructive  or  creative  imagining,  as  involved  in  assimi- 
lation, and  to  the  proper  cultivation  of  the  faculty. 
Assimilation  was  defined  in  its  broadest  sense  as  self- 
building,  not  only  making  new  experiences  fit  in  with 
those  already  gained,  but  combining  all  so  as  to  create 
new  thought,  new  purpose,  new  character.  The  work 
of  imagination  in  this  is  indispensable.  Even  acqui- 
sition is  slow  and  laborious  for  the  child  or  man  deficient 
in  imagination  ;  and  proper  assimilation  is  still  more 
difficult  for  the  mind  which  lacks  combining  and  cre- 
ative power. 

The  materials  which  imagination  uses  in  its  work  are 

percepts  and  concepts  furnished  by  memory,  or  those 

.  ,      now  being   formed    in  consciousness,  or  all 

Materials  <=> 

of  together.  The  creative  faculty  may  take 
imagining.  something  fr0m  the  accumulated  store  of 
knowledge,  or  it  may  use  what  is  now  being  presented 
through  the  senses,  or  concepts  as  they  are  formed,  or 
all  these,  from  which  to  make  its  combinations.  The 
chance  notes  that  float  in  upon  a  Mozart's  ear  may  serve 
as  a  nucleus  around  which  the  musical  imagination  will 


ASSIMIIA  TION :  I  MAC  I  XING. 


207 


build  a  symphony  ;  the  passing  flash  of  color  may  be  just 
the  stimulus  needed  to  arouse  the  activity  of  the  artist's 
imagination  ;  the  transient  pose  of  some  graceful  figure 
may  furnish  the  image  needed  by  the  sculptor  to  round 
into  perfect  symmetry  the  form  he  is  creating.  Some 
chance  remembrance,  some  reawakened  train  of  associ- 
ation, may  be  what  is  needed  to  start  into  action  the 
creative  energy  of  the  poet  or  the  scientific  investigator. 
As  has  already  been  seen,  no  faculty  works  alone  and 
independent  of  the  others.  Imagination  needs  and 
receives  the  aid  of  the  senses,  memory,  judg-  ce 

mentt  the  feelings,  and  will.     The  process  of      other 

•     •  •  1    •    1      •  1.'  •         c  Faculties. 

imagining,  in  which  imagination  is  01  course 
the  chief  actor  and  the  other  faculties  subordinates,  is 
approximately  as  follows  :  The  perceptives  and  memory 
furnish  the  materials, — -percepts  and  concepts;  judg- 
ment examines  and  selects  such  as  seem  suitable  to  the 
work  in  hand  ;  and  imagination  combines,  submitting 
the  result  to  judgment  for  final  decision.  Will  directs 
the  whole  process,  —  commands  memory  to  bring  forth 
its  store  of  appropriate  material ;  orders  judgment  to 
select  what  is  needed,  and  to  decide  upon  the  results ; 
and  sets  imagination  to  the  task  of  modifying  and  com- 
bining. The  coworking  of  the  several  faculties,  in 
imagining,  may  be  illustrated  by  particular  examples. 
The  merchant  takes  stock  of  his  experiences,  select- 
ing such  as  have  a  more  or  less  direct  bearing  upon  his 
present  conditions.  Between  these  selected  experiences 
and  the  present  requirements  of  his  business,  imagina- 
tion forms  combinations  which  picture  possible  improve- 
ments, a  better  organization  of  his  subordinates,  more 
attractive  methods  of  advertising,  and  an  increase  of 
trade. 


2o8  PS  YCHOL  OGY  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

Each  plan  suggested  is  carefully  tested  by  his  judg- 
ment, modified  somewhat  in  detail,  finally  pronounced 
good,  and  put  into  practice  ;  or  is  found  wanting,  and 
rejected. 

At  this  writing,  Professor  Langley,  of  the  Smithso- 
nian Institution,  is  at  work  upon  a  flying  machine. 
His  perception  of  the  flight  of  birds,  and  his  knowl- 
edge (memory)  of  what  has  been  attempted  in  aerial 
navigation,  furnished  him  with  the  elements.  Judg- 
ment selected  such  as  it  deemed  most  usable  under  the 
given  conditions  of  weight,  speed,  and  dirigibility  ;  and 
out  of  these  his  inventive  imagination  created  an  ideal, 
to  which  he  is  making  the  machine  now  under  con- 
struction more  or  less  closely  approximate.  A  model 
must  have  been  in  his  mind  before  he  could  have  begun 
even  to  draw  the  plans  of  his  structure. 

The  geologist,  not  content  with  mere  observation  of 
rock  and  stream  and  glacial  marking,  seeks  to  construct 
a  theory  that  shall  reach  into  the  endless  past  of  geo- 
logic time,  and  group  and  harmonize  and  unify  all 
known  facts,  and  make  the  wrinkled  surface  of  earth  a 
page  to  be  read  by  those  who  would  know  its  message. 
He  makes  many  possible  combinations  of  observed 
facts,  tries  to  explain  them  in  terms  of  present  phe- 
nomena, and  so,  piece  by  piece,  builds  up  an  earth 
history.  Such  work  requires  creative  power  of  a  high 
order.  There  is  but  one  Lyell,  or  Dana,  or  Geikie,  to 
thousands  of  fact  collectors. 

The  architects  and  artists  who  created  the  Columbian 
buildings  drew  upon  every  resource  of  memory  or  pres- 
ent perception  of  form  and  color  for  possible  elements 
of  new  combinations,  [adgment  selected  such  as  were 
harmonious,  or  capable   of    being   made   so,  with    one 


ASSIMILATION:   IMAGINING.  209 

another  and  with  the  ideal  structures  and  color  effects 
already  dimly  foreshadowed  by  imagination.  Then 
the  creative  faculty  grouped  and  unified  these  elements 
into  the  images  which  were  afterward  bodied  forth  in 
such  grandeur  of  harmonious  wholes,  and  in  such  beau- 
tiful execution  of  detail  as  compelled  the  aesthetic 
approval  of  nations. 

Dickens,  George  Eliot,  Carlyle,  Lowell,  —  all  the 
master  weavers  of  words,  had  abundant  riches  of  obser- 
vation, experience,  feeling,  and  reasoning.  These  were 
sifted,  compared,  combined,  created  into  new  relations, 
new  meanings,  new  truth  for  the  world. 

In  these  higher  activities  of  imagination,  which  alone 
are  usually  called  creative,  the  work  of  judgment  and 
will  seems  to  become  unnecessary  and  to  be  suspended. 
It  is  only  when  the  mind  plods,  when  the  faculties  have 
to  be  driven  to  work,  as  they  often  must  be,  that  we  are 
able  to  trace  their  separate  functions.  But  in  the  higher 
efforts  of  creative  imagination  it  seems  to  work  without 
other  compulsion  or  direction  than  that  of  its  own 
activity.  In  the  white  heat  of  genius  the  limitations 
of  memory  are  melted  away,  judgment  and  imagina- 
tion become  fused  into  one,  and  new  created  thought 
pours  forth  in  a  lambent  stream  over  which  will  has  no 
control.  Genius  is  conscious  of  no  steps  or  processes 
in  creation;  the  fiat  goes  forth,  "Be"  and  thought  is. 

All  such  work  is  in  the  highest  degree  assimilative : 
it  is  taking  the  crude  material  that  comes  into  the 
mind  through  sensation,  conception,  and  reasoning,  and 
making  it  up  into  new  thought,  new  ideals,  that  become 
an  integral  part  of  the  character,  in  accordance  with  the 
character's  already  formed  tendencies  and  limitations. 
Just  as  assimilation  in  muscle,  or  bone,  or  nerve,  is  de- 
Roark   Fsvcli.  —  ia 


2 1 o  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED UCA  TION. 

termined  by  the  cells  already  formed  there,  so  mental 
assimilation  is  modified,  if  not  determined,  by  the  bent 
of  the  mind.  The  inventor  could  not  create  Becky 
Sharp  any  more  than  Thackeray  could  have  created  an 
air  ship ;  the  musician  could  not  create  a  nebular  hypoth- 
esis any  more  than  Laplace  could  have  created  one  of 
Beethoven's  symphonies.  The  mind,  like  the  cell,  takes 
up  what  adds  to  the  kind  of  tissue  already  formed. 

Applications  to  Teaching. 

Some  suggestion  as  to  the  help  imagination  may  be 
to  the  teacher  was  made  in  Chapter  IX.  There  em- 
phasis was  laid  upon  the  sympathetic  imagi- 
Teacher's  nation,  by  which  the  teacher  can  feel  as  the 
Nee  '  pupil  feels,  misunderstand  as  the  pupil  mis- 
understands, and  understand  from  the  learner's  point 
of  view.  This  is  a  sort  of  outward  assimilation,  in 
which  the  teacher  assimilates  himself  to  the  pupil.  But 
there  is  another  sense  in  which  this  must  be  done,  in 
effective  teaching.  The  teacher,  holding  before  him- 
self the  image  of  the  pupil's  limitations,  and  the  actual 
amount  and  condition  of  his  knowledge,  must  cast  the 
facts  to  be  presented  to  the  pupil  in  such  form  as  will 
.  assimilate  them  to  what  the  learner  already  knows. 
The  teacher  must  imagine  such  combinations  of  con- 
cepts as  will  show  them  in  relations  that  the  pupil  can 
comprehend.  lie  must  be  all  the  time  on  the  alert  to 
invent  illustrations  and  to  make  applications  that  will 
stimulate  the  combining  and  creative  imagination  of 
his  students,  thus  enabling  them  not  only  to  understand 
the  matter  presented,  but  to  project  it  upon  the  screen 
of  consciousness,  arid  see  it  as  a  picture. 

The  creative  faculty  manifests  itself  in  children  at  a 


ASSIMILATION:   IMAGINING.  2II 

very  early  age,  and  with  a  proportionately  more  intense 
activity  than  in  adults.  It  manifests  itself  as  early  as 
the  second  year,  and  is  well  developed  in  the  third  and 
fourth  years.  A  child  of  three  and  a  half  imagination 
years  of  age  has  been  observed  to  haul  his  in  children, 
toy  wagon  from  point  to  point  in  the  room,  and  draw 
imaginary  milk  for  imaginary  customers,  and  receive 
imaginary  pay.  The  most  marked  manifestation  of 
imagination  in  the  very  young  child  is  in  endowing 
inanimate  objects  with  life  and  motion,  the  idea  of  the 
latter  being  of  course  aided  by  actually  moving  the 
objects.  To  the  little  girl,  her  rag  doll  is  really  alive, 
and  cries  or  laughs,  sleeps  or  walks,  as  a  flesh-and- 
blood  baby  would.  To  the  boy,  his  line  of  plain  wooden 
blocks  is  a  train  of  cars  at  full  speed. 

The  mechanically  perfect  toy  is  neither  so  pleasing 
nor  so  beautiful  to  the  child  as  a  piece  of  wood  or  bit 
of  iron.  The  perfect  toy,  that  too  accurately  represents 
something,  and  "goes  of  itself,"  leaves  nothing  to  the 
imagination.  This  faculty,  like  all  others,  is  naturally 
active,  and  its  activity  is  enjoyable  ;  therefore  the  child 
prefers  to  exercise  it  in  imagining  his  shapeless  bit  of 
material  to  be  by  turns  a  fish,  a  cat,  a  wagon,  or  a 
steam  engine.  The  boy  or  girl  surfeited  with  tin  bugs 
that  crawl  and  real  steam  engines  with  a  sure-enough 
whistle,  or  with  a  life-size  doll  that  shuts  its  eyes  and 
says  "mamma,"  is  glad  to  turn  away  from  these  un- 
suggestive  playthings,  and  delve  into  the  old  box  full 
of  broken  toys,  and  find  there  abundant  material  for 
creative  imagination  to  work  with.  The  mechanically 
perfect  toy  limits  imagination  by  its  very  complete- 
ness: the  bit  of  stick,  or  wire,  or  rag,  or  broken  china, 
can  be  imagined  into  any  number  of  forms  and  uses. 


212  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  TN  ED UCA  TION. 

Not  infrequently  the  child  imagines  so  vividly,  that 
he  accepts  the  products  of  his  imagination  as  real,  and 
insists  upon  the  truth  of  some  very  startling  statements. 
The  exercise  of  a  little  judgment  on  the  part  of  teacher 
or  parent  will  make  it  plain  that  the  child  is  not  lying 
in  any  true  sense  of  the  word :  he  believes  it  all  himself. 

From  all  that  has  been  said  of  the  uses  of  imagi- 
nation, it  may  readily  be  inferred  that  no  faculty  is 
„  14.  more  deserving  of  development  and  training. 

Cultivation  o  r  a 

ofimagina-  There  are  many  exercises  and  formal  studies 
all  the  way  from  the  kindergarten  to  the  uni- 
versity that  are  specially  useful  in  the  cultivation  of 
the  creative  faculty.  Clay  modeling,  paper  cutting, 
weaving,  etc.,  when  done  so  as  to  allow  freedom  to  the 
originality  of  the  child,  are  directly  helpful.  Too  fre- 
quently these  exercises  degenerate  into  mere  copying. 
Even  at  the  worst,  though,  the  child's  imagination  runs 
just  ahead  of  his  fingers  or  just  beyond  the  points  of 
the  scissors,  and  patterns  the  work.  The  numerous  kin- 
dergarten song  games  also  are  of  great  value  in  imagi- 
nation training. 

The  exercises  of  the  kindergarten  should  be  con- 
tinued, with  some  modifications,  into  the  primary  grades, 
and  drawing  should  be  introduced. 

In  addition,  in  these  grades,  the  oral  exercises  and 
the  reading  should  be  carried  on  with  special  reference 
to  their  influence  in  developing  imagination.  The 
teacher  may  briefly  describe  some  object  not  in  sight, 
and  have  the  pupils  try  to  determine  from  her  descrip- 
tion what  the  object  is.  Accounts  of  the  doings  of 
elves  and  brownies  may  be  given  by  both  teacher  and 
little  folks;  trees,  flowers,  animals,  may  be  endowed 
with  speech,  and  made  to  give  an  account  of  themselves. 


A  SSI  MI  LA  TION :   IMA  GIVING. 


213 


In  the  simplest  reading  exercise  there  is  room  and 
also  need  for  imagination,  —  the  persons  read  of,  and; 
what  they  do,  must  be  vitalized  and  made  real,  and  the 
places  and  events  described  must  be  more  or  less  fully 
pictured,  if  there  is  to  be  any  real  reading.  This  is  as 
true  of  the  first  reading  lesson  as  of  the  interpreta- 
tion of  Dante  or  Milton.  Reading,  let  us  say  it  again, 
is  the  one  exercise  which,  more  than  any  other,  is  capa- 
ble of  calling  into  active  use  every  power  of  the  mind. 
It  nourishes  imagination  as  no  other  school  study  can. 
To  read  is  to  interpret, —  to  see  the  same  scenes,  to 
think  the  same  thoughts,  to  feel  the  same  motives,  to 
will  the  same  purposes,  as  those  we  read  of.  Only 
through  imagination  is  it  possible  to  do  this. 

Much  imaginative  literature  should  be  used  in  the 
schools  from  the  third  grade  up.  Hans  Andersen, 
^Esop,  Crusoe,  are  classics.     At  the  proper      . 

r'  l        *  Literature 

age,   children    should    be    made   acquainted        and 
with    the    beautiful    myths    of    Greece    and   Laneuaee- 
Rome.      In  childhood  and  youth  these  things  can  be 
thoroughly  assimilated,  and  made  an  everlasting  part 
of  the  literary  culture  and  refinement  which  is  one  of 
the  most  priceless  things  the  student  can  take  with  him. 

Language  lessons  and  composition  should  be  used 
to  call  forth  the  creative  activity  of  the  mind.  The 
reading  lesson,  a  picture,  the  geography  lesson,  the  un- 
folding of  a  flower,  anything  with  a  possible  personal 
element  of  life  and  action  in  it,  can  be  used  as  the 
basis  of  oral  or  written  language  exercises  that  shall 
necessitate  purposive  use  of  the  imagination. 

The  power  to  make  combinations  and  to  form  images 
is  highly  serviceable  in  much  of  the  work  in  arithmetic, 
and  is  indispensable  in  the  higher  mathematics.     The 


214 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


need  is  not  so  much  to  see  relations  of  numbers  — 
judgment  takes  care  of  that  —  as  to  place  the  objects 
Mathe-  before  the  mind  so  their  relations  can  be 
matics.  readily  perceived.  In  the  simplest  problem 
— "If  James  has  five  apples  and  his  father  gives  him 
six  more,"  etc.  —  the  child  must  be  able  to  see  James 
with  the  eleven  apples.  In  arithmetical  mensuration, 
in  geometry  and  trigonometry,  the  need  of  imagina- 
tion grows  more  and  more  imperative. 

Other  studies  that  especially  cultivate  imagination 

and   call    for   its   exercise   are  geography  and  history, 

including  biography.      The   assimilative   or 

Geography.  .  .  ,     .  .  . 

apperceptive  work  of  imagination  is  con- 
stantly required  in  these  two  studies,  whether  primary 
or  the  most  advanced.  Such  concepts  as  island,  glacier, 
volcano,  oasis,  can  be  formed,  and  assimilated  to  the 
pupil's  present  body  of  knowledge,  only  by  an  active 
creative  faculty  that  can  combine  the  simple  elements 
of  his  experience  into  images  of  these  things.  The 
child  who  is  prepared  to  undertake  the  study  of  primary 
geography  has  probably  never  seen  a  river  or  an  island, 
and  certainly  not  an  oasis  or  a  volcano;  but  he  can 
create  pretty  accurate  concepts  of  them  for  himself  out 
of  his  concepts  of  small  streams,  land,  unproductive 
and  productive  soils,  hills,  and  fire. 

To  get  anything  out  of  history,  the  student  must  be 
able  to  put  himself  back  into  the  time  of  which  he 
reads,  —  must  see  the  people,  their  modes  of  dress,  the 
circumstances  of  their  daily  life;  must  feel 
their  emotions  and  desires,  their  hopes  and 
ambitions;  must  understand  their  arts  and  sciences; 
must  make  himself  one  of  them, —before  he  can  form 
any  adequate  idea  of  events  or  the  relations  and  causes 


A  SSI  MI  LA  TION  :   IMA  GINING. 


215 


of  events  in  any  given  period.  Young  people  can 
image  these  things  with  wonderful  facility  and  fidelity, 
and  will  do  so  if  only  the  teacher,  in  oral  lessons  or 
text-book  drill,  will  supply  the  stimulus  of  interest,  and 
set  the  material  before  the  creative  faculty  in  the  right 
way.  Still  more  is  this  true  in  the  study  of  biography, 
for  in  this  there  is  the  powerful  attractiveness  of  per- 
sonality. The  history  text-books  intended  for  use  in 
classes  below  the  college  freshman  should 
contain  a  great  deal  of  biography,  and  should 
group  events  about  the  lives  and  deeds  of  eminent 
men  and  women.  And  even  all  the  way  through  the 
college  or  university  course,  in  other  studies  as  well  as 
in  history,  it  is  well  to  give  imagination  this  element 
of  the  personal  about  which  to  group  many  of  its  com- 
binations. The  history  of  the  struggles  and  achieve- 
ments of  great  mathematicians,  chemists,  physicists, 
serves  to  intensify  the  creative  power  of  other  minds. 
It  is  mainly  through  its  exercise  in  literature,  history, 
and  biography,  that  imagination  builds  the  .       .    t. 

o      1      J  '  o  Imagination 

moral  character.  In  this  building  it  has  its  and 
highest  function.  Character  depends  upon 
ideals,  and  ideals  are  the  standards  which  imagination 
forms  and  sets  before  us  as  the  measures  of  our  con- 
duct. The  materials  out  of  which  our  ideals  are  formed 
we  get  from  the  lives  of  others  around  us,  and  from 
what  we  read.  A  great  deal  of  ideal-making  is  uncon- 
scious; and  the  standard  may  be  formed,  and  we  may 
find  ourselves  working  toward  it,  before  we  discover 
that  it  is  not  worth  our  endeavor.  This  emphasizes 
the  need  of  proper  environment  for  the  young,  —  virtu- 
ous associates  and  correct  literature.  In  much  of  the 
fiction  of  to-day  the  ideals  are  distorted  and  untrue  and 


2  1 0  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED UCA  TION. 

often  vicious.  No  book  is  safe  that  does  not  hold  up 
sincere,  honest,  earnest  character  as  the  only  kind  worth 
building.  The  prevalent  note  in  much  current  litera- 
ture, of  a  cynical  indifference  to  evil,  —  a  tone  of  saying 
"It's  bad,  but  it's  common,"  —  is  very  destructive  of 
high  individual  or  social  ideals.  To  help  counteract 
this,  the  experiment  has  been  tried  with  reassuring 
success,  in  some  schools,  of  having  the  pupils  make  a 
"record  of  virtue"  by  reporting  daily  or  weekly  all  the 
good  and  true  and  noble  things  they  could  glean  from 
their  current  reading.  The  plan  is  most  cordially  rec- 
ommended to  all  schools.  That  image  becomes  most 
permanent  which  is  most  constantly  kept  before  the 
mind. 

Parents  and  teachers  should  set  before  boys  and  girls 
the  best  characters  in  literature,  history,  and  biography; 
not  in  any  goody-goody  way,  not  with  too  much  stress 
upon  the  desirability  of  imitating  them,  but  in  a  frank, 
cordial,  rational  way.  Men  and  women  cannot  afford 
to  do  otherwise  with  themselves.  What  the  imagina- 
tion habitually  contemplates,  that  will  it  form  into  the 
ideals  in  whose  image  we  make  ourselves. 


A  SSI. U I  LA  T10N  :    WILLING. 


217 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

ASSIMILATION  :   WILLING. 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  second  operation  of  the 
mind  —  assimilation  —  involves  the  processes  of  concep- 
tion (its  first  step,  and  one  which  connects  it  with  ac- 
quisition), reasoning,  and  imagining.  Another  process, 
which  though  not  exclusively  an  assimilative  one  yet 
is  essential  in  assimilation,  is  willing.  Every  faculty 
is  engaged  in  making  the  personality  what  it  is,  in 
building  the  intellectual  and  moral  character  structure. 
And  will  directs  every  faculty  in  its  conscious  func- 
tioning, determining  in  large  measure  what  we  shall 
perceive  through  the  senses,  what  we  shall  think  about, 
what  we  shall  feel,  and  what  we  shall  do.  Vigor  of 
willing  not  only  makes  character,  it  is  character,  it  is 
what  we  are  intellectually  and  morally ;  and  since 
assimilation  is  self-building,  willing  is  therefore  most 
intimately  concerned  in  assimilation. 

In  Chapter  XII.,  while  nothing  was  said  directly  upon 
the  question  of  the  will's  "freedom,"  yet  a  legitimate 
inference  from  the  facts  there  set  forth  would  The  wni 
be,  that  the  will  is  free  in  the  best  sense  of  Free- 
the  word,  —  free  from  the  absolute  rule  of  motive. 
That  this  is  true,  and  to  what  extent  it  is  true,  may  be 
shown  by  some  examples  of  willing  and  not-willing 
which  are  common  in  the  experience  of  every  one. 

On  a  hot  day  you  suddenly  remember  that  there  are 


2  T  8  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED UCA  TION. 

lemons  in  the  cupboard,  and  ice  in  the  chest;  and  you 
want  a  glass  of  lemonade  so  much,  that  you  can,  as  we 
say,  almost  "  taste  it."  But  you  are  too  indolent  to 
get  up  from  the  hammock  and  go  into  the  house  to 
make  the  drink.  Your  desire  is  intense,  but  not  enough 
so  to  cause  your  will  to  act ;  indeed,  you  may  ineffec- 
tively say  "  I  will  go  "  several  times,  the  will  making 
feeble  efforts  to  act  in  accordance  with  the  desire.  In 
such  a  case  the  motive  is  strong,  there  is  no  counter- 
motive,  —  for  laziness  can  hardly  be  called  a  motive,  — 
and  yet  the  will  does  not  respond  to  desire,  is  neither 
inhibited  nor  moved  to  effective  action  by  any  motive. 

Or  the  question  to  be  decided  may  be  one  of  the 
greatest  importance  in  business  affairs.     Two  or  more 

Further  possible  lines  of  action  may  lie  open  before 
illustrations. you,  each  involving  its  own  peculiar  risks, 
and  holding  out  its  own  promises  of  probable  benefits. 
All  the  resources  of  experience  are  called  upon,  judg- 
ment and  imagination  are  busily  at  work,  and  finally 
judgment  pronounces  its  decision,  "This  is  the  course 
to  follow."  Then  will  acts,  —  determines  to  follow  the 
course  selected  by  judgment,  and  begins  to  direct  the 
mind's  energies  to  its  accomplishment. 

Not  infrequently  the  judgment  is  unable  to  reach  a 
satisfactory  decision ;  and  the  whole  matter  is  laid 
aside,  will  taking  no  action  further  than  to  "  throw  the 
case  out  of  court,"  which  it  can  do  at  any  time.  If  a 
decision  is  reached  and  put  into  execution,  will  acts  in 
accordance  with  the  desire  to  better  your  trade,  and  in 
harmony  with  the  decision  of  judgment  as  to  the  best 
way  to  do  that.  Hut  the  motive  is  no  more  the  cause 
of  the  action  of  will  than  it  is  of  the  action  of  judg- 
ment; and  it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  motive  —  the 


A  SSIMILA  TION :    WILLING. 


219 


desire  to  improve  your  business  —  is  as  strong  when 
judgment  fails  to  reach  a  conclusion  on  which  will  can 
act  as  it  is  when  the  decision  is  reached  and  put  into 
execution. 

There  are  people  whom  the  popular  phrase  declares 
to  be  of  "  strong  will."  Such  people  may  be,  and  often 
are,  marked  by  a  limited  range  of  judgment  or  other 
faculties.  Having  but  few  ideas,  reaching  but  few  con- 
clusions, they  act  upon  these  with  forceful  vigor.  Will 
is  free  in  the  same  sense  in  which  the  other  faculties 
are,  —  free  within  the  limits  of  knowledge  and  present 
environment.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  sometimes  true 
that  a  man  has  too  much  knowledge  of  the  facts  in  a 
given  case,  and  his  judgment  is  unable  to  reach  a 
decision.  Or  knowledge  may  be  inadequate  to  enable 
judgment  to  decide,  and  will  takes  a  "  leap  in  the  dark," 
choosing  without  special  reference  to  any  motive. 

The  preceding  illustrations  may  be  taken  as  typifying 
the  action  or  non-action  of  will  in  matters  outside  of 
ethics,  matters  that  have  no  moral  quality,  win  and 
Into  ethical  questions,  where  the  Tightness  conscience, 
or  wrongness  of  an  action  is  to  be  considered,  a  new 
element  enters,  another  motive,  —  conscience.  This  feel- 
ing of  oughtness,  of  obligation  to  do  right  and  avoid 
wrong,  awakes  as  soon  as  any  problem  involving  the 
morality  of  conduct  is  presented  to  judgment  for  solu- 
tion. Until  judgment  has  decided  what  particular 
thing  is  right  in  any  given  case,  the  feeling  is  simply  a 
general  one,  a  sense  of  necessity  to  do  right.  When 
judgment  has  reached  a  conclusion,  conscience  becomes 
a  powerful  motive,  which  may  be  in  harmony  with 
the  other  motives  that  make  themselves  felt  at  the 
time,  or  ma)-  be  in  opposition  to  them  all.     Will  can 


2 20  ps  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED UCA  TION. 

not  only  act  in  accord  with  other  motives  than  con- 
science, or  in  accord  with  conscience,  but  it  can  also 
intensify  it  or  the  other  motives,  or  dismiss,  or  at  least 
weaken,  all  of  them,  conscience  included,  and  bring  up 
an  entirely  new  set  of  feelings  that  may  serve  as  reasons 
for  action. 

If  motive  could  be  relied  upon  as  the  cause  as  well 

as  the  occasion  of  willing,  then  men's  actions  could  be 

predicted  and  brought  about  with  the  regularity  and 

Motive  not  precision  with  which  a  machine  may  be  made 

a  cause.  to  respond  to  its  motive  power.  To  some 
extent  this  can  be  done ;  and  what  we  mean  when  we 
say  we  are  "bringing  pressure  to  bear"  on  some  one,  is 
that  we  are  trying  to  influence  his  action  through  what 
we  believe  to  be  his  strongest  motives.  But  every  one 
recognizes  the  element  of  uncertainty  in  even  the  best 
calculated  scheme  by  which  we  hope  to  gain  the  desired 
action  of  another.  So  long  as  the  element  of  uncer- 
tainty does  not  rise  above  an  average  determined  by 
our  experience  with  men  in  practical  affairs,  we  call  the 
will  normal;  but  if  the  individual  acts  often  from 
impulse  or  whim,  or  is  obstinate  and  does  not  yield 
to  ordinary  or  rational  motives,  then  we  call  the  will 
erratic. 

There  are  several  phases  of  abnormal  willing,  from 

common  impulsive  action  to  conduct  that  results  from 

Abnormal    deep-seated  disease  of  the  will.     Willing  that 

willing.  js  t]1(J  rcsulL  of  whim  or  impulse  is  a  type  of 
what  may  properly  be  called  "non-free"  will;  for  in 
this,  will  acts  solely  in  accord  with  the  uppermost 
motive. 

Obstinacy  seems  to  be  abnormal  willing, —  willing 
not  in  accordance  with  judgment  or  normal  motives, 


ASSIMILATION :    WILLING.  22I 

but  apparently  from  a  desire  to  will  something,  and  will 
it  vigorously,  especially  if  it  be  different  from  what 
would  naturally  be  expected  in  the  case. 

By  some  persons,  both  children  and  adults,  non- 
ethical  and  ethical  acts  are  committed  not  only  invol- 
untarily, but  directly  against  the  determination  of  will. 
Such  acts,  no  doubt,  characterized  those  "  possessed  of 
devils,"  and  it  would  be  hard  to  find  a  better  term 
than  "  possessed  "  to  name  such  people  now.  A  some- 
thing within  them,  not  themselves,  seems  to  do  the 
act.  Examples  of  such  apparently  irresponsible  action 
are  sometimes  observable  in  young  people  of  marked 
nervous  temperament.  They  call  out  profane  or  inde- 
cent words,  or  are  guilty  of  reprehensible  conduct 
toward  their  fellows  ;  and  even  while  in  the  act,  they 
may  suffer  intensely  from  shame  or  the  stings  of  con- 
science. Such  cases  should  receive  the  tenderest  and 
most  sympathetic  care  of  parent  and  teacher,  and  a 
close  watch  should  be  kept  on  all  unusually  nervous 
children,  in  order  to  detect  the  first  signs  of  this  pain- 
ful neuropathic  condition.  There  are  many  other  more 
marked  aberrancies  of  will,  but  they  come  within  the 
province  of  medical  specialists. 

The  several  steps  in  the  process  of  conscious  normal 
willing  may  be  summarized,  then,  as  follows  :  (i)  There 
is  some  occasion  for  choice,  two  or  more  pos- 

•11  r  i  1       •  rr  i        Summary. 

sible  acts  or  courses  ot  conduct  being  offered  ; 
(2)  the  motives  begin  to  solicit  decision  and  determina- 
tion in  favor  of  this  or  that;  (3)  judgment  more  or  less 
judicially  considers  the  matter  in  the  light  of  experi- 
ence and  of  the  possible  issues  that  imagination  pictures, 
and  decides  which  course  is  expedient;  or,  if  the  ques- 
tion be  one  of  morals,  which  is  right ;  (4)  will  chooses  that 


222  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED UCA  TION. 

which  judgment  has  recommended,  determines  to  fol- 
low it  now,  or  at  some  fitting  future  time,  and,  if  now, 
proceeds  to  execute  its  determination  by  setting  the 
proper  muscles  to  work.  But  there  are  many  depar- 
tures from  the  norm  in  the  process  of  willing.  When 
the  judgment  is  undisciplined,  it  as  often  yields  to 
motive  as  does  a  weak  will.  Persons  whose  feelings 
are  stronger  than  their  judgment  are  rightly  called 
prejudiced;  they  prejudge  a  matter  from  their  feeling 
concerning  it,  without  waiting  to  weigh  all  the  facts 
that  should  be  considered.  Sometimes,  in  persons 
of  usually  calm  and  unbiased  judgment  and  normal 
will,  some  dominant  idea  seems  to  take  possession  of 
consciousness  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  ideas, 
and  judgment  and  will  both  submit  to  its  influence. 
Under  such  circumstances  we  say  those  persons  are 
"carried  away"  by  whatever  temporarily  dominates 
them.  They  themselves  seem  to  have  a  subconscious- 
ness that  they  are  not  acting  wisely.  Any  one  is  liable, 
under  the  stress  of  unusual  desire  or  temptation,  to 
do  something  in  direct  opposition  to  what  is  believed 
to  be  wise  or  right. 

Applications  to  Teaching. 

The  proper  education  of  will  is  the  making  of  char- 
acter, and  necessarily  involves  the  right  direction  of  all 
the  other  activities,  especially  the  motives,  imagina- 
tion, and  judgment.  In  cultivating  the  will,  the  law  of 
7isc  is  as  important  as  it  is  in  the  development  of  any 
other  mental  power.  Every  failure  to  determine,  or  to 
execute  a  determination  after  it  is  formed,  makes  the 
will    weaker ;    every   choice    deliberately   made,   every 


A  SSI  MI  LA  TION :    WILLING. 


223 


determination  resolutely  executed,  makes  the  volitional 
power  more  vigorous. 

The  teacher  must  set  before  himself,  as  the  end  to  be 
reached  in  his  efforts  at  character  building,  the  pupil ' s 
self-control  in  right  directions ;  and  all  his  means  must 
involve  the  use  of  the  pupil's  will.  No  so-called  "dis- 
cipline "  is  worth  anything,  or  can  be  other  than  injuri- 
ous, which  tries  to  secure  good  behavior  solely  through 
external  coercion,  or  by  bribing  through  a  system  of 
prizes  and  rewards.  It  is  not  to  be  understood  that 
coercion  and  inducement  should  not  be  used  at  all ;  but 
they  must  not  be  used  except  to  secure  general  good 
conduct  until  some  way  can  be  found  by  which  the 
pupil  can  be  got  to  behave  of  himself. 

The  purpose  of  the  American  public  school  is  to 
make  citizens  capable  of  living  under  a  form  of  self- 
government.  Self-government  in  state  or  Self. 
nation  can  mean  nothing  more  than  the  self-  control. 
government  of  the  individual.  Law  is  for  those  who 
are  not  self-governing,  and  does  not  touch  those  who 
have  the  power  of  self-control.  It  is  almost  beyond 
dispute  that  there  would  be  no  use  for  reformatories, 
jails,  state  prisons,  or  criminal  courts,  if  every  indi- 
vidual  in  the  community  could  govern  himself.  Self- 
control  is  used  here  in  its  widest  application,  to  mean 
not  only  control  of  impulses,  of  wrong  tendencies,  of 
evil  desire,  and  passion,  but  also  to  mean  control  of 
wasteful  activity  or  negligent  sloth  of  any  kind.  It 
includes  self -direct  ion. 

To  act   upon  impulse  is  almost  always  to  act  un- 
wisely ;  and  since  impulsiveness  is  character-   Impu]sive 
istic  of  young   people,  the  teacher's  effort      Action 
must  be  at  first  in  the  direction  of  "'ettinsf  his       nwIS 


/ 

2  24  ps  YCHOLOG  \ '  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

pupils  to  exercise  will  as  an  inhibitive  force  in  the  con- 
trol of  tendencies  to  too  ready  action.  They  must  be 
made  to  know  that  every  imprint  upon  the  soul  is,  in  a 
real  sense,  ineffaceable.  Every  indulgence,  every  selfish 
act,  every  "sowing  of  wild  oats,"  leaves  a  mark  that 
cannot  be  outgrown  or  outlived,  no  matter  how  sincere 
the  repentance  may  be.  The  nervous,  emotional  tem- 
perament, in  adults  as  well  as  in  children,  is  prone  to 
waste  energy,  to  spend  more  muscular  force  or  brain 
force  than  is  necessary  to  the  proper  accomplishment 
of  a  given  task.  Much  energy  is  dissipated  in  worry,  a 
most  exhausting  form  of  waste. 

Many  persons,  old  and  young,  waste  force  through 
the  emotions  and  affections.     They  indulge  in  strong 

Emotion  emotional  excitement  as  a  toper  indulges  in 
and  worry.  rnni}  ancj  tne  results  to  both  mind  and  body 
are  nearly  as  evil  in  the  one  case  as  in  the  other.  All 
forms  of  worry  and  undue  emotional  excitement  should 
be  inhibited  through  will.  The  volitional  faculty  should 
be  used  to  secure  and  maintain  a  calm,  evenly  bal- 
anced life.  Dr.  Abbott  puts  it  thus:  "  No  problem  is 
so  exacting  as  that  which  is  presented  to  a  man  by  him- 
self;  none  other  demands  for  its  solution  such  infinite 
patience  and  persistence.  As  there  is  no  struggle  so 
severe  and  exacting  as  that  which  a  man  has  to  make 
with  himself,  so  there  is  no  victory  so  noble  as  that 
which  a  man  wins  over  himself." 

To  be  a  good  and  safe  citizen  —  a  good  man  or 
woman — -is  to  choose,  determine,  and  act  in  accord 
The  Highest  with  the  best  judgment,  the  purest  motive. 

Motive.  The  highest  motive  that  can  influence  ethical 
conduct  is  the  desire  to  do  right  because  it  is  right. 
But  this  motive  is  too  high    for  most  adults,  and  of 


ASSIMfLA  TION  :    WILLI XG. 


225 


course  would  not  serve  as  the  basis  of  a  very  effective 
appeal  to  children.  The  lowest  motive  that  can  be  used 
to  influence  conduct  is  fear  in  any  form  ;  but,  because 
it  seems  temporarily  effective,  it  is  very  often  used. 
The  expectation  of  "prizes"  or  "rewards  of  merit"  is 
nearly  as  bad.  The  essential  evil  in  the  use  of  fear  or 
any  other  motive  that  responds  only  to  some  external 
coercion  or  inducement  is,  that,  as  soon  as  the  external 
influence  is  removed,  right  conduct  becomes  irregular, 
or  ceases.  The  only  effective  and  abiding  cause  of  con- 
duct is  within  the  individual.  It  may  be  that  fear  or 
cupidity  must  be  appealed  to  at  times,  sufficiently  at 
least  to  set  the  child  in  the  right  path,  but  the  higher 
motives  should  be  used  to  keep  him  there. 

The  best  general  direction  for  will  training  may  be 
stated  thus  :  Use  the  highest  motives  to  which  the  indi- 
vidual (or  the  school  as  a  whole)  can  be  got 

\  /  o  Direction 

to  respond;  then  use  the  advantage  thus  for  win 
gained  to  create  high  ideals,  which  shall  be- 
come standards  of  conduct.  The  proper  cultivation  of 
the  motives  (feelings)  is  of  the  highest  importance  in 
building  moral  character.  It  is  by  no  means  enough 
that  we  shall  be  taught  to  know  right  from  wrong:  such 
knowledge  does  not  of  itself  prompt  to  right  doing. 
We  must  also  intensely  feel  about  ^t,  —  feel  the  inv 
perative  of  conscience  especially. 

Character  is  not  fully  established  until  right  conduct 
has  become  habitual:  will  finds  it  easy  to  work  along 
lines  of  least  resistance.  The  teacher,  then,  must  use 
every  effort  to  convert  right  action  into  habit,  in  his 
pupils. 

The  general  direction  just  given  for  character  build- 
ing through  education  of  will,  involves  the  education 
Roark  Psych. —  15. 


226  fS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

of  every  other  faculty  ;  and  every  other  faculty  is,  of 
course,  concerned  in  the  making  of  character,  but  the 
will  is  the  director  and  executor.  A  man  may  be  con- 
scious of  sound  memory,  discerning  judgment,  vivid 
imagination,  and  wholesome  normal  feeling,  and  at  the 
same  time  be  keenly  conscious  of  an  utter  inadequacy 
due  to  deficient  will  power.  This  is  simply  another 
way  of  saying  that  boys  and  girls  must  be  influenced 
to  use  the  will  for  the  attainment  of  high  ideals,  if 
they  are  to  grow  to  self-reliant,  integral  manhood  and 
womanhood. 

Some  form  of  affection  or  desire  is  usually  the  highest 
motive  which  can  influence  the  conduct  of  children  and 
young  people.  An  enumeration  and  discussion  of  such 
feelings  as  are  thought  to  be  most  effective  have  been 
given  in  Chapters  X.  and  XI.  But  judgment,  which  in 
this  connection  may  well  be  called  the  "  rational  motive," 

Rational     should  early  be  set  to  work  with  imagination 

Motive.  t0  form  standaj-ds  and  ideals  of  conduct. 
Even  young  boys  and  girls  will,  of  their  own  choice, 
do  many  things  from  a  rational  motive,  because  it  is 
wise  or  right  to  do  them,  rather  than  from  a  mere 
desire  for  pleasure. 

In  the  training  of  the  young,  permanency  of  environ- 
ment, if  the  environment  is  at  all  good,  is  of  the  utmost 

Environ-  importance.  Too  frequent  change  of  resi- 
ment.  dence,  too  much  travel,  too  much  sight- 
seeing, tend  to  weaken  the  influences  that  give  stability 
and  wholeness  to  character.  And  indeed  it  takes  a 
strong,  well-matured  character  to  withstand  frequent 
change  of  surroundings,  frequent  contact  with  different 
standards  of  conduct  and  different  motives  of  action. 
In  this  fact  is  to  be  found  part,  at  least,  of  the  expla- 


ASSIMILAT/OX :    WILLING. 


227 


nation  why  a  shifting  population  is  apt  to  be  more  or 
less  criminal. 

It  is  worthy  of  frequent  repetition  that  the  best 
means  at  the  teacher's  disposal  for  forming  the  stand- 
ards and  ideals  of  his  pupils  are  to  be  other 
found  in  history,  biography,  and  literature.  Aids- 
Through  these,  feeling,  judgment,  imagination,  may  all 
be  reached  and  educated.  The  youth,  by  being  brought 
to  feel  the  same  motives,  build  the  same  standards  of 
conduct,  and  picture  the  same  successes,  as  those  of 
which  he  reads  in  biography  or  literature,  will  be  caused 
to  mold  his  own  life  after  the  ideals  thus  created  within 
him. 

The  young  are  so  imitative,  usually  unconsciously 
so,  that  the  teacher  should  in  himself  exhibit  high 
standards  of  right,  lofty  ideals,  and  firm  self-  The  Teacher 
control.  The  fussy,  fuming,  nervous  teacher,  an  ExamPle- 
frivolous,  trivial-minded,  and  with  varying  standards  of 
action,  soon  inoculates  a  whole  school  with  these  char- 
acteristics ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  firm,  even- 
tempered,  self-controlled,  judicial  teacher  communicates 
his  own  qualities  to  his  pupils. 

The  process  of  willing  is  intimately  bound  up  with 
any  philosophy  of  living.  The  best  principle  of  life 
that  the  teacher  can  follow  or  weave  into  the  a  Philosophy 
habits  of  his  pupils  is,  "Prove  all  things,  ofLiving- 
hold  fast  that  which  is  good,"  and  bend  an  undeviating 
will  to  the  doing  of  the  best  that  you  can  do;  and  with 
that  be  content,  not  worrying  or  fretting.  Thoreau 
says,  "  To  dwell  long  upon  one's  errors  and  misde- 
meanors is  to  add  to  the  offense.  Not  to  grieve  long 
for  any  action,  but  to  go  immediately  and  do  freshly 
and  otherwise,  subtracts  so  much  from   the   wrong." 


228  PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 

This  is  in  no  way  in  conflict  with  the  "  divine  discon- 
tent "  which  is  and  has  been  the  mainspring  of  all  that 
is  best  in  human  endeavor,  of  all  most  effective  human 
willing.  Pope  was  as  psychologic  as  he  was  poetic 
when  he  wrote, — 

"  Hope  springs  eternal  in  the  human  breast  : 
Man  never  is,  but  always  to  be  blest." 


REPRODUCTION. 


229 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


REPRODUCTION. 


REPRODUCTION  is  the  operation  which  involves  the 
creation  of  thought  and  the  expression  of  thought  and 
feeling  in  language  and  action.     The  terms 

1  i-iiii  ,1  Definition. 

language  and  action  should  be  extended  to 
include  the  various  forms  of  art.  Painting,  sculpture, 
and  music  are  means  of  expression  of  the  highest  order. 
The  painter,  the  sculptor,  the  musician,  utter  their 
ideas  and  ideals  as  truly  as  do  the  essayist,  the  orator, 
the  poet. 

The  comparison  of  mind  activity  with  the  bodily 
organism  and  functions  may  be  briefly  used  again  to 
illustrate  this   definition.     To    preserve   the 

L  Mind  and 

physical  economy,  food  must  be  acquired  Body com- 
and  assimilated,  —  must  be  taken  into  the  Pared- 
body  after  proper  preparation,  and  there  undergo  such 
changes  as  will  make  it  into  new  tissue.  But  all  this  is 
useless,  unless  there  be  some  outward  result  of  the 
inward  assimilation,  shown  not  only  in  increased  vigor 
and  capacity  for  work,  but  in  the  actual  work  done 
through  this  increased  capacity.  So  the  mind,  in  order 
to  grow,  must  acquire  knowledge  and  assimilate  it, 
making  it  over  into  new  thought,  and  building  it  into 
the  personality  and  character  of  the  individual.  But 
this  is  profitless,  unless  there  be  outward  expression  of 
the   inward    activity  in    language   and    conduct.      The 


230 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


results  of  mental  assimilation  must  be  made  outwardly 
manifest. 

Creation  has  already  been  considered  as  the  work  of 

imagination,  aided   by  judgment  and   other  faculties. 

It  is  the  connecting  process  between  assimi- 

Creation.  .  . 

lation  and  reproduction.  Its  results  are  new 
concepts  and  ideals,  new  combinations  of  thought, 
new  images,  new  standards,  new  purposes. 

That  these  may  be  wrought  out  to  fulfill  the  law  of 
individual  activity,  and  to  have  their  effect  in  making 

or  marring  human  happiness,  there  must  be 

Expression.  .  -T.  .  .  , 

expression.  We  cannot  know  what  a  man  s 
thoughts  are,  or  his  ideals  or  his  character,  except  as 
these  are  made  known  to  us  through  his  words  and 
acts.  His  true  thought,  his  real  character,  may  not  be 
expressed  always,  but  something  that  has  been  thought 
and  felt  within  him  shows  forth  in  expression. 

As  there  are  three  kinds  of  education,  —  physical, 
intellectual,  moral,  —  with  the  corresponding  forms  of 

character,  so  there  are  three  forms  of  expres- 

Three  Forms  ,  r 

of  Expres-  sion,  —  physical  expression,  in  which  phy- 
slon'  sical  character  is  made  manifest ;  intellectual 
expression,  in  which  intellectual  character  is  made 
manifest ;  and  moral  expression,  or  moral  conduct,  the 
outward  evidence  of  moral  character.  It  takes  very 
little  observation  to  discover  that  these  three  forms  of 
expression   arc  real  and  distinct. 

Physical  character  is  shown  in  the  dress,  in  the  car- 
riage of  the  body,  in  ways  of  standing  and  sitting  and 
walking,  and  in  all  things  requiring  physical  activity 
for  their  accomplishment.  Inefficient  or  defective  phys- 
ical character  is  expressed  in  stooping  posture,  slouch- 
ing, uncertain  gait,  and  poorly  coordinated  movements 


REPRODUCTION. 


231 


of  body  and  hands  in  any  work  demanding  careful 
muscular  adjustment.  Defective  mental  character  is 
also  frequently  indicated  in  some  one  or  more  of  these 
ways,  and  in  tone,  gesture,  and  facial  expression. 

But  it  is  rather  in  language  and  conduct  that  intel- 
lectual and  moral  character  have  their  expression.  The 
power  to  think  vigorously  and  effectively  is  shown  in 
the  use  of  vigorous  and  effective  language.  Moral  in- 
tegrity is  shown  in  honesty,  truthfulness,  purity,  charity. 

The  outward  expression  also  reacts  upon  the  character 
to  strengthen  and  fix  it.  Modes  of  expression  become 
habitual,  and  it  is  easier  for  thought  and  feeling  to  find 
outlet  through  tracks  already  formed  than  to  force  new 
ones:  hence  the  danger  of  letting  any  but  the  best  forms 
of  expression  become  habits.  Expression  should  never 
be  permitted  to  become  wholly  unconscious  or  involun- 
tary ;  there  is  always  the  possible  need  of  a  changed 
form  of  expression  to  suit  the  growing  character. 

A  specially  valuable  fact  is  to  be  noted  in  this  con- 
nection ;  and  that  is,  that,  if  one  persists  in  forms  of 
expression  foreign  to  his  natural  character,     Reaction 
the  reaction   will  be  felt  in  the  awakening         of 
of  thoughts  and   feelings  corresponding  to  ExPression- 
the  expression.     A  timid  man,  if  he  will  persistently 
wear  the  garb  and  adopt   the   carriage  of  a  frontier 
desperado,  will  inevitably  feel  something  of  the  swag- 
gering  bravado   of   his   model.      The   habitual   liar,   if 
he  will  follow  truth-telling  rigorously  for  a  time,  will 
come   to   think   less  of   lying.     It   is   on   the   reaction 
of  expression  upon  character  that  keepers  of  reforma- 
tories and  prisons  largely   rely  to  work  improvement 
in  the   character  of   their   charges.     If   men  are   com- 
pelled to  keep  clean,  to  walk  upright,  to  forego  intoxi- 


232 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


cants,  to  eat  plain  food,  and  to  do  honest  work,  the 
character  of  all  but  the  most  abandoned  will  respond 
to  the  changed  forms  of  outward  behavior. 

All  three  forms  of  expression,  as  named  above,  de- 
mand psychic  activity  in  greater  or  less  degree.  Even 
though  some  modes  of  expression  have  become  habitual, 
they  were  once  voluntary,  and  required  conscious  ef- 
fort. The  putting  of  thought  and  feeling  into  language 
and  action  involves  judging,  imagining,  and  willing. 

No  statistics  have  been  taken  on  the  subject,  but 
there  is  good  ground  for  believing  that  the  majority 
of  persons  do  much  of  their  thinking  in  concepts  rather 
than  in  words:  most  of  their  images  and  ideas  are  pre- 
sented to  consciousness  unclothed  in  language.  A  dis- 
tinct and  more  or  less  strenuous  effort  is  necessary  in 
finding  language  or  other  symbols  for  the  exact  expres- 
sion of  what  is  in  the  mind.  There  must  be  strenuous 
volitional  directing  of  faculty  and  muscle,  in  all  forms 

of  art  expression  ;   and   the  work  of  mold- 
Expression  * 

a  Mental     m<r  thought   into   words   suited   to   contain 
operation.    ^   makes   exhausting   draughts   upon   every 

faculty.     Expression    is,   then,   in    every   case,   a    real 

operation  of  the  mind. 

Cultivation  of  Expression. 

Although  it  is  with  intellectual  and  moral  expression 
that  the  teacher,  under  present  educational  conditions, 
has  most  to  do,  yet  he  must  concern  himself,  as  much 
as  opportunity  and  equipment  allow,  with  the  expres- 
sion of  physical  character,  lie  should  be  alert  to  dis- 
cover, and  to  do  what  he  can  to  correct,  physical  faults. 
I  Ie  should  be  watchful  of  playground  sports  and  games, 
since  these  betray  both  physical  and  mental  tendencies. 


REPRODUCTION. 


233 


He  should  sympathetically  and  intelligently  direct  some 
of  the  physical  activity  of  both  boys  and  girls,  so  that 
it  may  become  a  truer  expression  of  right  natural 
tendencies,  and  may  react  against  evil  character  ele- 
ments. When  it  can  be  afforded,  there  should  be 
some  provision  of  gymnastic  apparatus,  even  piayand 
if  only  of  the  simplest  kind.  This  should  Gymnastics. 
be  used  to  cultivate  the  physical  character  of  every 
pupil.  This  idea  is,  of  course,  carried  out  now  in  kin- 
dergartens, colleges,  and  universities  ;  but  it  has  wrought 
but  littlechange  in  primary  and  lower  secondary  schools, 
and  is  almost  unknown  in  country  schools.  This  matter 
will  be  presented  more  in  detail  in  the  next  chapter. 

The  putting  forth  of  thought  and  feeling  is  mainly 
by  means  of  language,  spoken  and  written  ;  and  the 
teacher  must  therefore  address  himself  to  the  work  of 
training  his  pupils  to  use  language  correctly,  fluently, 
and  naturally. 

In  the  recitation  the  teacher  has  an  opportunity,  not 
afforded  him  at  any  other  time,  for  testing  his  pupils 
as  to  the  three  kinds  of  character,  and  for  The 
cultivating  their  proper  expression.  In  re-  Recitation- 
citing,  the  pupil  gives,  for  the  most  part  unconsciously, 
evidence  of  defective  physical  and  mental  equipment, 
or  of  physical  and  mental  integrity.  A  weak,  drooping 
carriage  of  the  body  in  sitting  or  standing  is  one  of  the 
commonest  indications,  at  the  recitation  seat,  of  lack 
of  physical  tone.  Pupils  should  be  made  to  sit  and 
stand  with  erect  head  and  shoulders,  and  with  back  held 
straight.  So  commonplace  a  statement  would  not  need 
to  be  made  were  it  not  so  often  disregarded.  The  reci- 
tation also  affords  opportunity  to  discover  defects  of 
sight  and  hearing. 


234 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


Quality  of  moral  character  will  be  shown  in  recitation 
by  the  pupil's  accepting  or  rejecting  "promptings" 
from  his  classmates;  by  his  trying  to  conceal  his  igno- 
rance from  his  teacher,  or  by  his  candid  and  full  state- 
ment of  his  difficulties  in  comprehending  the  lesson  ; 

cheating     arid  in  numerous  other  ways  so  well  known 

in  class,  to  teachers  of  all  grades.  But  it  is  not,  of 
course,  safe  to  take  cheating  or  deceit  in  class  as  always 
indicative  of  the  general  moral  condition  of  the  pupil. 
Among  students,  almost  from  the  primary  grade  up, 
there  is  a  sort  of  tradition  that  it  is  not  only  not  wrong, 
but  rather  the  correct  thing,  to  take  what  advantage 
they  can  of  the  teacher,  and  cheat  him  into  a  good 
opinion  of  their  ability  ;  and  pupils  will  do  this  who 
would  scorn  to  lie  or  cheat  on  the  playground  or  in 
their  social  relations. 

At  the  same  time,  a  tendency  to  cheat  and  deceive 
in  the  recitation  indicates  lack  of  correct  standards  of 
right,  and  the  teacher  should  do  all  possible  to  bring 
his  pupils  to  see  the  matter  in  its  true  light.  Other- 
wise the  pupil  who  lives  by  a  double  standard  in  school 
may  easily  grow  into  a  man  or  woman  living  by  a 
double  standard  in  the  world. 

The  best  test  the  recitation  affords  is  of  the  in- 
tellectual character.  From  the  pupil's  expression  of 
thought  in  language,  the  teacher  can  judge  of  his  power 
to  observe,  to  reflect,  to  imagine,  to  will.  It  must  not 
be  forgotten  that  expressing  thought  is  hard  work, 
quite  as  hard  work,  often,  as  making  thought.  There- 
fore pupils  an'  prone  to  clothe  their  ideas  in  rags  and 
some  tatters  of  language,  —  half  completed  sen- 
Difficuities.  tences,  ambiguous  phrases,  and  even  slang, — 
with  much  poor  pronunciation  and  far  poorer  enuncia- 


RE  PROD  UC  TIOiV.  235 

tion.  In  correcting  and  reforming  the  spoken  language 
of  the  pupils,  the  teacher  will  have  to  labor  against  the 
powerful  examples  and  associations  of  home  surround- 
ings, as  well  as  against  the  habit  and  carelessness  of  the 
pupils  themselves.  In  his  efforts  to  correct  their  syntax 
and  phraseology,  he  will  even  run  counter  to  sentiment 
as  well  as  to  habits  and  associations  ;  for  among  the 
masses  of  the  people  there  is  a  feeling  that  correct 
expression  is  an  affectation  and  a  sign  of  foppishness.' 
Strange  as  it  may  seem,  many  persons,  both  young  and 
old,  do  not  use  as  good  language  as  they  know,  from 
fear  of  ridicule ;  but  the  most  patient  and  persistent: 
effort  should  be  put  upon  the  task  of  having  each  pupil 
express  his  thought,  in  recitation,  in  clear,  concise, 
complete  sentences  properly  pronounced  and  clearly 
enunciated. 

It  is  unfortunately  true  that  a  majority  of  teachers 
seem  satisfied  if  they  can  but  get  the  pupils  to  give 
pretty  good  evidence  of  a  knowledge  of  the  lesson,  and 
do  not  seem  to  care  in  what  sort  of  language  this 
knowledge  is  expressed.  Other  teachers  seem  to  think 
they  avoid  the  difficulty  of  slouchy  language  if  they 
insist  that  the  pupils  shall  recite  in  the  exact  language 
of  the  text-book.  While  this  may  in  some  cases  be 
effective  in  securing  proper  expression,  it  is  usually  one 
of  the  surest  ways  to  dull  the  originality  of  the  pupil, 
and  diminish  the  activity  of  every  faculty  but  memory. 
To  cultivate  the  power  to  express,  it  is  not  sufficient 
that  the  pupil  shall  be  required   merely  to 

1  r  111         Pupils  must 

reproduce,  by  an  act  of  memory,  both  the     recite  in 
thought  and  the   language  of  another;   but    theirown 

0  00  Language. 

he  must  make  the  thought  his  own  by  under- 
standing it,  and  then  forge  it  into  zvords  of  his  own 


3 -,6  PS  J 'CIIOL  OG  V  IN  ED UCA  TION. 

selection.  It  is  the  pupil's  ability  to  express,  that  the 
teacher  is  concerned  with,  not  that  of  the  text-book 
writers.  Therefore  insist  that  the  pupil  shall  recite 
in  his  own  language,  that  his  sentences  shall  be  correctly 
framed,  and  that  his  words  shall  be  properly  pronounced 
and  distinctly  enounced. 

What  has  been  said  so  far,  of  expression  training  in 
the  recitation,  applies  more  particularly  to  oral  recita- 

written  tions  ;  but  tablet  and  pencil  should  be  a  part 
Expression.  0f  tne  equipment  of  every  pupil  as  soon  as  he 
is  old  enough  to  use  them,  and  should  be  used  in  nearly 
every  recitation.  It  is  by  writing  that  accuracy  of  ex- 
pression is  best  secured.  There  is  no  subject  a  part  or 
all  of  the  recitation  in  which  may  not  be  often  written 
advantageously.  There  may  be  written  recitations  in 
spelling,  reading,  history,  arithmetic,  etc.,  in  which  the 
aims  shall  be  the  same  as  in  oral  recitations,  except  that 
accuracy  of  spelling,  punctuation,  paragraphing,  etc., 
takes  the  place  of  accuracy  in  pronunciation  and  enun- 
ciation. Much  written  work  in  every  branch,  on  tablet 
and  blackboard,  should  be  insisted  on  in  all  primary  and 
secondary  schools;  and  written  work  in  various  forms 
should  be  given  a  prominent  place  in  the  daily  exer- 
cises of  the  college  and  the  university,  and  all  of  it 
should  receive  from  the  teacher  as  critical  an  examina- 
tion and  correction  of  the  language  used  as  of  the 
statements  regarding  the  subject-matter.  A  student 
of  biology,  for  instance,  should  have  both  the  biology 
and  the  English  of  his  paper  criticised ;  and  if  his  punc- 
tuation, paragraphing,  spelling,  syntax,  and  phrase- 
ology are  not  good,  he  should  not  be  marked  high,  no 
matter  how  correct  his  biology  may  be. 

It  was   shown   in   previous   chapters  that  there   are 


REPRODUCTION. 


?37 


exercises  and  studies  which  are  especially  suited  to  the 
cultivation  of  the  observational  powers;  others,  to  the 
cultivation  of   memory,  etc.      So  there  are 

J  Expression 

studies  whose  effect,  when  they  are  rightly  Exercises 
pursued,  is  to  cultivate  fluency  and  accuracy  and  studies- 
of  expression.  These  are,  named  generically,  language 
studies  and  art  studies.  In  the  kindergarten  they  take 
the  form  of  songs,  stories,  drawing,  and  hand  work 
with  paper  and  clay.  The  individuality  of  the  four- 
year-old  may  be  expressed  in  these  exercises  as  clearly 
as  the  individuality  of  the  man  or  woman  is  in  a  book 
or  a  lecture.  The  music,  drawing,  and  clay-modeling 
of   the   kindergarten   are  the  beginnings   in 

&  fc>  fc>  Music, 

those  forms  of  expression.  Vocal  music  Drawing, 
should  form  a  part  of  the  course  of  study  Modehne- 
in  all  schools,  up  to  the  college ;  and  drawing  should 
have  a  place  in  all  curricula  of  formal  education,  no 
matter  how  extended  these  may  be.  Some  skill  in 
these  forms  of  expression  it  is  as  much  the  business 
of  the  schools  to  give  as  it  is  to  train  in  language  or 
mathematics :  an  education  is  not  an  all-round  educa- 
tion without  them. 

In  the  work  of  the  primary  school,  the  increased 
power  of  the  pupil  should  be  brought  into  expression 
by  more  oral  work  than  can  be  used  in  the  kindergarten. 
There  should  be  a  definite  period  devoted  each  day  to 
conversations  between  the  teacher  and  the  conversa- 
primary  pupils,  in  which  the  talk  should  be  tions- 
free  and  spontaneous,  on  some  subject  of  interest  to 
the  little  people.  The  teacher's  aim  must  be  to  secure 
(i)  ready  expression,  (2)  correct  expression.  Wrong 
pronunciation,  slipshod  enunciation,  and  bad  syntax, 
should  be  quietly  and  sympathetically  corrected.     No 


238  ps  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

exercise  of  the  school  is  more  important  than  this  con- 
versation exercise ;  nor  does  any  require  more  careful 
and  ingenious  preparation,  or  more  skill  in  conducting 
it.  If  the  teacher  is  not  genuinely  interested,  and  sin- 
cere, or  is  unable  to  quicken  the  interest  of  the  pupils, 
the  exercise  will  degenerate  into  a  mechanical  word- 
grind,  in  which  there  can  be  no  real  expression  of  the 
child. 

As  soon  as  the  pupils  are  able  to  write  with  some 
readiness,  simple  composition  exercises  should  be  intro- 

composi-  duced.  The  first  aim  in  such  exercises  should 
tion.  kg  |-0  secure>  as  nearly  as  possible,  automatic 
exactness  in  what  may  be  called  "  mechanics  "  of  writ- 
ten composition.  By  the  time  the  pupil  has  finished 
the  fourth-reader  grade,  correct  punctuation,  capitali- 
zation, and  paragraphing  should  be  done  by  him  as 
automatically,  almost,  as  the  letters  are  made.  Of 
course,  while  this  precision  is  being  acquired,  and  in 
order  to  secure  it,  the  work  of  composition  on  paper 
must  be  made  as  interesting  as  possible,  and  the  mental 
quality  of  the  writing  must  be  kept  fully  up  to  the 
pupil's  rising  level  of  power.  The  saying  of  Bacon  is 
true,  that  "  writing  maketh  an  exact  man,"  for  there 
is  no  other  exercise  whereby  exactness  in  expression 
can  be  so  thoroughly  attained  as  putting  thought  into 
writing ;  and  it  is  lamentable  that  no  other  exercise 
is  more  neglected  in  formal  teaching,  in  all  grades  of 
schools.  There  is  not  a  week  of  school  life,  from  the 
time  the  pupil  can  write  at  all  to  the  time  when  he 
goes  out  with  his  university  degree,  in  which  he  ought 
not,  under  a  teacher's  direction,  to  express  on  paper 
some  of  his  best  thought  in  the  best  language  he 
can   use  ;    and  this  should  be  done  not  merely  in  his 


REPRODUCTION. 


'39 


English  course,  but  in  every  study.  The  cultivation  of 
expression  should  no  more  be  confined  to  a  few  lessons 
in  composition,  or  left  wholly  to  a  professor  or  group  of 
professors  of  language  and  literature,  than  the  training 
of  a  pupil  in  courtesy,  truthfulness,  and  honesty,  should 
be  confined  to  one  set  of  exercises  or  be  left  to  a  "  pro- 
fessor "  of  these  virtues.  Every  class  should  be  an 
expression  class,  every  study  should  involve  exercises 
in  the  putting  of  thought  into  written  language.  This 
idea  is  emphasized  in  the  following  quotation  from  the 
Report  of  the  Committee  of  Ten :  "  It  is  a  funda- 
mental idea  in  this  report,  that  the  study  of  every  other 
subject  should  contribute  to  the  pupil's  training  in 
English  ;  and  that  the  pupil's  capacity  to  write  English 
should  be  made  available,  and  be  developed,  in  every 
other  department." 

In  addition  to  the  general  exercises  here  indicated, 
there  ought  to  be,  of  course,  regular  class  work  in 
English  composition,  both  theoretical  and  practical, 
in  all  primary  and  secondary  schools,  and  through  the 
collegiate  sophomore  year,  if  not  longer. 

Reading  as  an  exercise  in  itself,  and  the  study  of 
literature,  both  indirectly  and  directly  aid  in  the  cul- 
tivation of  expression.     Through  oral  read-     Readin 
ing    as    a    school    exercise,   correct    pronun-  and  Liter- 
ciation,   enunciation,   and    inflection   should 
be  acquired  ;   and  in  both  reading  and  literature  the 
study  of  words  should  have  a  prominent  place.     All 
words  new  to  the  pupil  should  be  noted,  defined,  and, 
when  possible,  used.     The  study  of  words,  their  origi- 
nal meaning,  their  present  force,  and  their  synonyms, 
can  profitably  be  made  a  special  school  exercise,  from 
the   fourth    grade   up.     The   dictionary    is,   of  course, 


240 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


indispensable  in  such  exercises  ;  and  every  pupil  should, 
at  the  proper  degree  of  advancement,  be  taught  to  use 
it  effectively. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  not  more  teachers  are  able  to 
cultivate  the  voices  of  their  pupils  by  proper  exercise 
in  oral  reading ;  for  the  voice  is,  in  tone  and  inflection, 
one  of  the  chiefest  means  of  expression,  —  as  important, 
indeed,  as  language  itself.  But  a  cultivated  voice  is 
even  more  seldom  heard  than  good  oral  reading  or 
correct  and  fluent  speech. 

The  study  of  literature  furnishes  models,  the  influ- 
ence of  which  is  effective  in  the  cultivation  of  both  oral 
and  written  expression.  Forms  of  expression,  and  the 
combinations  of  words  and  phrases,  should  receive  care- 
ful attention,  for  they  constitute  style,  —  that  indefinable 
Something  which  is  the  aroma  of  expression.  The 
principal  defect  in  the  so-called  study  of  literature  in 
most  schools  is  that  it  is  a  study  about  literature  rather 
than  a  study  of  literature  itself. 

Declaiming  is  simply  reading  without  the  book,  and 

with  a  touch  more  of  dramatic  effect  than  oral  reading 

demands.      It  is  an  excellent  exercise  if  care 

Declaiming.  , 

be  taken  to  save  the  student  from  tailing 
into  stilted  and  unnatural  tones  and  gestures:  natural- 
ness, even  though  it  be  crude,  is  far  preferable  to  any 
kind  of  artificial  speaking. 

There  can  be  no  better  exercise  than  debating  for  the 
cultivation  of  fluent  and  correct  oral  expression.     It 

can  be  profitably  introduced  into  the  fourth- 

Debating. 

reader  grade  of  the  country  school,  and 
should  form  a  part  of  the  required  curriculum  of  every 
school,  all  the  way  up  to  and  through  the  university. 
There    is    no    more    reason    why    training   in    forensics 


REPRODUCTION. 


241 


should  be  left  to  the  students'  "  literary  societies  " 
than  that  the  study  of  arithmetic  should  be  left  to  a 
students'  "arithmetical  society." 

Argumentative  discourse  is  the  best  by  which  to  cul- 
tivate readiness  of  expression,  because  it  excites  the 
interest  of  the  participants  as  no  other  form  of  discourse 
can,  and  thus  secures  that  sincerity  and  naturalness  of 
expression  without  which  no  utterance  is  effective,  and 
because  it  necessitates  much  impromptu  speaking.  Turn- 
ing a  subject  over  and  over  in  the  mind,  studying  its 
significance,  and  searching  for  language  adequate  to 
set  forth  this  significance  ;  the  demand  for  readiness  in 
rejoinder,  for  ability  quickly  to  select  the  strongest 
words  in  which  to  frame  replies  to  the  arguments  of  an 
opponent,  —  all  cultivate  quickness  and  exactness  of 
expression.  These  forensic  drills  should  be  under  the 
sympathetic  and  skillful  direction  of  a  properly  equipped 
teacher.  It  is  certainly  an  excellent  indication  of  the 
good  judgment  of  many  college  faculties,  that  they  are 
encouraging  debating  contests  between  students  of  dif- 
ferent institutions,  and  are  thus  doing  something  to 
call  attention  to  the  fact  that  training  in  intellectual 
expression  is  at  least  equal  in  importance  to  leg-train- 
ing in  football  bouts. 

Secondary  schools,  and  institutions  of  higher  learning, 
are  beginning  to  wake  up  to  the  fact  that  "  expression 
crowns  their  work,"  and  are  casting  about  for  satisfac- 
tory methods  of  making  up  for  what  has  been  and 
is  a  shameful  lack.  These  words  of  Professor  Hart  go 
straight  to  the  mark:  "Failure  in  English  Training  in 
should  disqualify  any  one  from  graduation  English. 
from  any  institution.  We  have  no  right  to  certify  to 
the  world  as  an  educated  person  one  who  is  unable 
Roark  Psych. —  16. 


242 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  T/OJV. 


to  express  himself  clearly  and  correctly  in  his  mother 
tongue."  And  Dr.  Brooks  was  wholly  right  when  he 
said,  "  Better  neither  Latin,  Greek,  nor  science  than 
ignorance  of  the  mother  tongue." 

No  subject  has  received  more  discussion  in  the  past 
few  years  than  the  question  of  how  most  effectively  to 
teach  English  in  American  schools  and  colleges.  Our 
institutions  have  worshiped  the  fetich  of  foreign  lan- 
guages, both  dead  and  living,  so  blindly  and  so  long, 
that  to  write  and  speak  passable  English  is  a  rather 
rare  accomplishment.  The  Committee  of  Ten  deemed 
the  matter  of  English  expression  of  sufficient  impor- 
tance to  demand  the  most  thoughtful  consideration  of 
it;  and  the  recommendations  of  this  committee,  in  Bul- 
letin No.  205  of  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education,  should 
be  studied  by  every  teacher. 

The   operation   of   expression   involves    the    highest 

activity   of  the   mind,  and   requires  the  use  of  every 

faculty.     The  senses  and  memory  put  knowl- 

Summary.  . 

edge-material  before  judgment  and  imagina- 
tion. These  elaborate  the  material  into  new  thought, 
and  then  clothe  the  thought  with  words,  or  put  it  into 
art  forms.  Expression,  of  course,  requires  that  there 
shall  be  something  to  express:  so  acquisition  and 
assimilation  must  precede  expression.  The  mind  must 
be  stored  with  percepts  and  concepts  ;  it  must  use  judg- 
ment and  imagination  actively  in  combining  these  into 
new  forms  and  ideals;  it  must  be  attuned  to  feel  beauty 
and  righteousness.  Then  it  may  seek  the  power  with 
which  to  utter  forth  its  thought  and  feeling  in  winged 
words,  in  marble  or  bron7.c,  on  the  quickening  canvas, 
or  in  the  imperishable  harmonies  of  sound. 

Expression  is  the  teacher's  test  of  //is  own  failure  or 


REP  ROD  UCT10N. 


243 


success.  Do  his  pupils  show  increased  physical  health, 
greater  power  to  think,  and  to  say  and  write  what 
they  think,  and  a  sturdier  moral  nature,  than  when 
they  came  to  him?  If  so,  his  teaching  has  been  effec- 
tive; if  not,  he  has  failed. 

The  power  to  express  is  also  the  test  of  success  in 
the  practical  affairs  of  life.  He  who  can  most  quickly 
marshal  his  thoughts,  and  send  them  forth  in  words 
rilled  with  meaning,  and  electric  with  the  force  of  mind, 
is  master,  and  sways  the  multitude  as  he  wills,  whether 
he  writes  in  the  closet,  or  speaks  in  the  forum.  And 
he  who  speaks  to  mankind  through  art,  expressing  for 
them  their  purest  ideals  and  aspirations,  has  always 
been  called  divine. 


244  ps  YClI0L0G  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TI0N- 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

APPLICATIONS   OF    PSYCHOLOGY    TO    FORMAL 
EDUCATION. 

THE  attempt  has  been  made  in  the  preceding  chap- 
ters to  show  why  the  teacher  needs  psychology,  and 
how  he  can  make  it  of  service  in  his  daily  teaching. 
In  this  chapter  it  is  designed  to  revert  again  to  the 
definitions  previously  given  of  education  and  teaching, 
and  to  show  the  necessary  and  vital  connection  which 
a  knowledge  of  mind  has  with  the  whole  science  and 
art  of  education.  A  system  of  formal  education  will 
be  set  forth  which  will  serve  as  one  of  many  attempts 
now  being  made  to  use  what  is  known  of  mind  and 
mind  growth  as  the  basis  of  human  development  by 
the  consciously  directed  agencies  of  the  school,  the 
college,  and  the  university. 

There  are  many  questions  connected  with  the  organi- 
zation of  the  means  of  formal  education,  the  answers 
to  which  must  be  sought  more  or  less  directly  in  psychol- 
ogy. All  of  these  fall  within  the  wide  domain  of 
sociology,  for  sociology  includes  all  questions  the  right 
solutions  of  which  make  it  easier  for  man  to  live  a 
human  life.  And  sociology  must  come  to  psychology 
with  all  other  questions,  as  well  as  with  those  concerning 
the  best  ways  and  means  of  education. 

Education,  as  to  its  specific  sociological  purposes, 
may  be  divided  into  formative  and  reformative.    Forma- 


APPLICATIONS  TO  FORMAL  EDUCATION. 


245 


tive    education    is    that    of    which    the    purpose    is    to 
develop  and  train  the  young  and  unformed 

11  ,  •       ,  .     ,         r  <-r->i  Formative 

body  and  mind  to  right  functioning.      The  and  Reform- 
object  is  the  formation  of  character.  ative  Edu- 

Keformative  education  is  that  of  which  the 
purpose  is  to  take  those  who,  by  reason  of  heredity  and 
environment,  are  deformed  in  character,  and  try,  by 
specially  devised  methods,  to  win  them  back  to  right 
living,  right  thinking,  right  willing.  The  object  is  the 
reformation  of  character. 

Many  different  agencies  have  been  organized  for  this 
work  by  those  who  feel  that  to  provide  for  this  sort 
of  education  is  as  much  the  duty  of  society  Reformative 
as  to  provide  for  the  formative.  Among  Aeencies- 
these  agencies  are  reform  schools,  reform  farms,  college 
settlements  in  the  slums,  houses  of  refuge,  and  special 
systems  of  management  for  prisons  and  for  asylums  for 
the  insane.  The  central  idea  in  each  of  these  is  the 
necessity  of  getting  the  child,  the  man,  the  woman,  to 
understand  that  liberty  in  a  human  community  can  be 
enjoyed  only  on  the  conditions  of  honest  self-support, 
and  intellectual  and  moral  self  control :  hence  all  means 
are  used  to  quicken  the  motives,  to  strengthen  the  will, 
and  to  give  the  individual  the  power  and  the  skill  to 
make  a  livelihood.  Of  course,  if  intellectual  or  moral 
obliquity  rests  upon  physical  disease,  this  must  first  be 
cured  or  ameliorated.  Further  discussion  of  reforma- 
tive education  lies  outside  the  province  of  this  book. 

Some  Problems  Stated. 
The  chief  problems  of  formative  education  may  be 
generically  grouped  under  these  three  heads:  (1)  the 
organization  of  educational  forces  and  appliances ;   (2) 


246 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


the  organization  of  the  individual  school ;  (3)  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  school  to  secure  the  aims  of  its 
organization. 

In  the  first  are  involved  such  matters  as  the  right  re- 
lation of  the  community  (state  or  nation)  to  education  ; 
the  mutual  relations  of  the  primary  and  secondary 
schools  and  the  institutions  ranking  above  them  ;  the 
place  of  professional  schools  in  a  state  system  ;  the  re- 
lations of  the  state  to  private  educational  institutions ; 
the  teaching  of  morals  and  religion  in  public  schools. 

In  the  second  are  involved  the  kinds  of  studies,  their 
relative  values,  their  proper  order  in  the  several  courses, 
and  the  correlation  of  these  courses. 

In  the  third  belong  school  management  and  method- 
ology. 

The  results  of  the  inquiry  as  to  what  part  psychology 
plays  in  the  solution  of  the  more  important  of  the  ques- 
tions above  given  are  put  forth  tentatively  and  with  no 
feeling  of  finality  or  dogmatism,  but  with  an  earnest 
desire  to  aid  in  the  establishment  of  something  definite 
in  educational  philosophy. 

1  las  the  community,  whether  organized  as  city,  state, 
or  nation,  a  right  to  establish  and  maintain  a  system  of 
»  schools  by  public  taxation  ?  In  reply  to  this, 
JfUie'com*-  much  may  be  said  pro  and  con ;  but  almost 
munity  to  all  civilized  countries,  and  some  half-barba- 
rous ones,  have  already  given  the  question  a 
practical  affirmative  answer.  Never  in  the  history  of 
tin-  world  was  the  idea  of  universal  public  education  so 
prevalent  as  it  is  now. 

A  part,  at  least,  of  the  explanation  of  this,  may  be 
found  in  the  fact  that  an  organized  human  community 
has,  in  a  true  sense,  a  psychic  existence  which  is  a  com- 


APPLICATIONS  TO  FORMAL  EDUCATION.        247 

positc  of  the  psychic  lives  of  the  individuals.  When 
we  speak  of  the  "  German  type "  or  the  "  American 
type,"  we  mean  not  only  the  physical  characteristics 
(form,  feature,  stature,  etc.),  but  we  mean  also  the  mental 
peculiarities — the  ways  of  thinking,  the  ethical  stand- 
ards, the  expression  of  the  inner  life  in  literature  and 
art  — that  mark  one  nation  as  differing  from  another. 

There  is  a  psychology  of  the  nation  as  well  as  of  the 
individual,  —  a  truth  which  some  seem  prone  to  forget, 
who  would  have  us  in  America  adopt  German,  or 
French,  or  English  systems  and  methods  of  education. 

But  there  is,  in  a  still  closer  sense,  a  psychology  of 
society  as  an  organism.     Society  is  a  growth  with  its 
own  vital  and  psychic  laws.     This  fact  which   society  an 
has  received  especial  recognition  from  Spen-    Organism, 
cer,  must  be  taken  into  account  in  tracing  social  changes 
and  progress. 

As  the  individual  man  has  added  to  his  safety  and 
prolongation  of  life  by  increasing  his  intelligence,  so 
the  social  organism  gains  safety  and  permanency  from 
an  increase  of  the  general  social  intelligence. 

It  took  the  shedding  of  much  blood  to  teach  this 
truth  fully  to  two  of  the  most  enlightened  nations  of 
Europe.  Now,  both  France  and  Germany  show  by  their 
thoroughgoing  provisions  for  popular  education,  that 
they  believe  a  soldier  can  fight  better  with  brains  and 
bullets  than  with  bullets  alone,  and  that  obedience  to 
law  is  more  readily  yielded  from  within  the  individual 
than  it  can  be  coerced  from  without. 

In  a  republic  the  necessity  of  universal  education  is 
greater  than  in  a  monarchy,  because  in  a  republic  power 
lies  in  the  hands  of  all  citizens,  and  power  without 
knowledge  is  eminently  dangerous. 


248 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


To  the  question,  then,  whether  the  community  has 
a  right  to  establish  and  maintain  agencies  for  general 
education  at  public  expense,  the  answer  must  be  a 
strong  affirmative ;  because  in  the  state,  as  in  the  indi- 
vidual, education  means  increased  intelligence,  higher 
standards,  purer  patriotism,  and  a  quickened  conscience. 
The  state  educates  its  citizens  in  order  to  secure  its 
own  safety  and  permanency.  Self-preservation  is  the 
first  law  of  states  as  of  individuals. 

The  external  organization  of  a  state  system  of  educa- 
tion is  work  for  the  legislator:  the  internal  organiza- 
tion is  the  work  of  the  educator,  and  should 

Organization 

of  Educa-    be  based  on  a  sound  psychology.     Since  the 

tional  Forces.  .     ,  ,  ,  •  r  •       • 

internal  organization  01  a  system  is  insepa- 
rably connected  with  the  organization  of  the  individual 
school,  both  will  be  discussed  together. 

The  definition  of  education  offered  in  the  Introduc- 
tion calls  for  the  "preparation  of  the  individual  in 
physical,  intellectual,  and  moral  capacities,"  and  such 
education  the  state  must  provide.  The  primary  object 
of  state  education  is  sound  citizenship,  and  this  can  be 
secured  only  by  educating  for  sound  manhood  and 
womanhood.  This  definition  of  education  is  in  accord 
with  the  modern  dogma  that  "the  whole  child  must  go 
to  school."  But,  although  this  saying  has  become  worn 
from  much  use,  it  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  it  is  fully 
carried  out  in  only  a  very  few  schools  of  any  grade. 

Physical  Education. 

Healthy,  continued  activity  of  mind  depends  upon 

sound  physical  development  and  growth.     There  is  a 

direct  ratio  between  mental  wholeness,  and  good  lungs, 

nutrition,  and    muscular    exercise.       Proper   provision 


APPLICATIONS  TO  FORMAL  EDUCATION.         249 

should  therefore  be  made  in  the  individual  school,  and 
in  every  system  of  schools,  for  physical  education. 

It  is  rare  to  find,  even  in  the  wealthiest  public  or 
endowed  colleges  and  universities,  adequate  provision 
for  physical  training:  in  the  primary  schools  there  is 
almost  none,  beyond  a  few  simple  marching  and  cal- 
isthenic  exercises.  In  the  country  schools  this  lack  is, 
fortunately,  largely  made  good  by  the  outdoor  life  of 
the  pupils,  both  at  home  and  at  school,  which  affords 
opportunities  for  outlet  in  right  directions,  of  the  natural 
activity  of  the  boys  and  girls. 

But  even  in  the  country  school  there  is  need  that 
the  teacher  should  use  well-planned  methods  of  giving 
his  pupils  some  definite  physical  training.  !n  the 
An  important  part  of  his  duty  is  to  prevent  Country- 
over-exertion  and  the  too  constant  exercise  of  any 
particular  set  of  muscles.  Every  country  teacher  will 
readily  realize  the  necessity  of  such  control  over  the 
tendency  of  his  pupils  to  take  up  some  game  and 
play  it  day  after  day  until  both  pupils  and  game  are 
worn  out. 

At  the  beginning  of  school  the  teacher  should  care- 
fully note  such  pupils  as  betray  any  physical  weakness, 
and  in  every  way  possible  secure  their  interested  partici- 
pation in  those  sports  and  games  that  will  bring  into 
activity  the  defective  muscles  and  organs.  Children's 
plays  may  easily  be  classed  according  to  the  particular 
sense  organs  or  set  of  muscles  they  are  best  suited  to 
cultivate;  and,  in  addition  to  the  usual  games,  special 
exercises  may  be  devised  by  the  observant  and  sympa- 
thetic teacher,  to  supplement  the  spontaneous  play. 
He  should  be  on  the  playground  at  every  general  inter- 
mission, to  direct,  control,  and  inspire  physical  activity, 


250 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


as  he  directs,  controls,  and  inspires  mental  activity  in 
the  schoolroom. 

In  towns  and  cities  the  problem  of  proper  physical 

training  is  not  so  easily  solved  as  in  the  country,  and 

will  not  be  until  boards  of  education  come 

In  the  City.  .    .  . 

to  see  the  vicious  stinginess  01  cramped 
schoolhouses  and  schoolyards.  Good  ventilation  and 
lighting,  hygienic  seating,  and  sufficient  room  for  out- 
door exercise,  should  be  secured,  at  whatever  cost  of 
mere  dollars ;  and  to  these  should  be  added  a  more  or 
less  complete  equipment  for  gymnastic  training.  In 
the  larger  cities  the  gymnasia  should  be  under  the 
direction  of  a  specialist  and  a  corps  of  trained  assist- 
ants. A  little  less  money  for  dead  languages,  and  a 
little  more  for  living  lungs  and  muscles,  would  be  a 
good  thing  in  many  city  school  systems. 

The    college    and    university    should    provide    fully 

equipped  gymnasia,  and  make  physical  training  a  re- 

.    „„        quirement  for  all  students.     As  each  student 

In   College     n 

and  uni-     matriculates,  he  (and  she)  should  be  meas- 
versity.      ure<j;  weighed,  and  otherwise  tested  physic- 
ally, as  he  is  tested  mentally  in  entrance  examinations. 
Upon  the  results  of  this  physical  examination  should 
be  prescribed  a  gymnasium  course. 

The  contrast  between  an  intelligently  directed  gym- 
nastic course  and  the  usual  athletic  training  a  young 
man  gets  at  college,  lies  in  the  fact  that  in  athletics 
those  who  do  not  need  the  training  get  it,  while  in  the 
gymnastic  course  each  student  gets  exactly  the  kind 
and  amount  of  exercise  he  needs  for  his  all-round 
physical  development.  If  the  modern  idea  of  educa- 
tion is  to  be  wrought  out,  a  college  student  should  no 
more  be  permitted  an  "  election  "  in  athletics  or  other 


APPLICATIONS  TO  FORMAL  EDUCATION.       25  I 

forms  of  physical  training  than  he  is  in  his  intellectual 
studies. 

The  methods  of  physical  training  briefly  set  forth 
above  are  for  the  general  development  of  the  whole 
body  ;  but  there  is  another  kind  of  training,  Manual 
partly  physical,  partly  mental,  which  cannot  Training- 
be  neglected  if  the  "whole  child"  is  to  be  educated. 
Manual  training—  or,  as  it  is  termed  by  some,  manu- 
mental  training  —  is  now  almost  universally  recognized 
as  an  indispensable  factor  in  a  complete  education. 

There  are  two  reasons,  either  one  of  which  is  suffi- 
cient, why  it  should  have  a  place  in  public  schools : 
(1)  because  it  is  the  business  of  public  education  to 
prepare  the  pupil  to  live  as  a  self-supporting  citizen  in 
a  community  of  his  fellows ;  (2)  because  through  hand 
training  the  mind  can  be  developed  more  readily  and 
effectively  than  without  it. 

To  be  self-supporting,  a  citizen  must  have  the  ability 
to  make  an  honest  living.  The  majority  of  citizens  in 
any  community  make  a  living  by  use  of  hands  and 
brains,  rather  than  by  use  of  brains  alone ;  that  is  to 
say,  most  people  earn  a  support  by  manual  labor  rather 
than  in  purely  intellectual  pursuits.  It  is,  then,  at  least 
as  much  the  duty  of  the  state  to  provide  hand  training 
as  it  is  to  provide  mind  training.  Manual  training  seems 
to  be  one  of  the  surest  means  of  making  education 
truly  democratic  rather  than  aristocratic  :  it  provides 
for  the  needs  of  the  many,  not  merely  for  the  culture 
of  the  few,  and  it  dignifies  manual  labor.  The  indict- 
ment often  brought  against  the  schools  of  every  country 
is,  that  they  increase  the  army  of  the  discontented  by 
cultivating  the  intellect  and  the  capacity  to  feel,  with- 
out proportionately  training  either  mind  or  hands  to 
skill  in  providing  for  increased  wants. 


252 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


The  excellent  results  attending  the  introduction  of 
manual  training  in  some  form  into  many  kinds  of 
schools  seem  to  close  the  argument  regarding  its  effec- 
tiveness as  a  means  of  quickening  intellectual  activity. 
According  to  reports  from  different  schools,  the  purely 
intellectual  work  of  those  pupils  who  receive  manual 
training  is  done  in  much  less  time,  with  greater  zeal 
and  more  thoroughness,  than  it  was  before  manual 
training  was  introduced.  These  results  are  in  accord 
with  the  teaching  of  psychology,  that  the  mind  is 
stimulated  and  energized  from  without  inward,  through 
its  innate  creative  tendency  and  its  interest  in  tilings. 

The  idea  not  to  be  lost  sight  of  is,  that  manual  train- 
ing means  mind  training  through  the  hands:  training 
of  the  hands  themselves  is  the  means,  rather  than  the 
end,  in  a  scheme  of  general  education. 

Intellectual  Education. 

Although  intellectual  education  has  been  provided 
for  among  civilized  peoples  for  two  or  three  thousand 
years,  even  a  cursory  study  of  history  will  show  that  it 
has  not  been  made  to  include,  until  quite  recent  times, 
either  the  masses  of  the  people  or  all  the  intellectual 
capacities  of  the  individual.  Now  the  fact  is  recog- 
nized and  emphasized  in  every  modern  system  of  edu- 
cation, that  the  poor  and  the  rich,  the  hand  laborer 
and  the  brain  laborer,  alike  have  a  right  to  intellectual 
development  and  culture. 

And  it  has  come  to  seem  axiomatic,  that  all  the 
intellectual  powers  should  be  developed  and  trained. 
One  time,  not  so  long  ago,  it  seemed  to  be  thought,  that, 
if  memory  were  sufficiently  developed  and  crammed,  the 
duty  of  the  educator  was  fully  done;  and  most  teach- 


APPLICATIONS   TO  FORMAL  EDUCATION.        253 

ing  proceeded  on  the  idea,  that,  if  the  memory  could  be 
sufficiently  filled  with  facts,  the  culture  of  the  whole 
mind   would   somehow   follow. 

It  is  now  recognized  that  not  only  should  all  the 
powers  of  the  intellect  be  cultivated,  but  that  they 
should  be  cultivated  in  that  order  which  the  best  psy- 
chological investigation  has  shown  that  they  follow  in 
natural  development.  The  order  of  this  development, 
and  the  relative  intensity  of  the  three  groups  of  mind 
activities,  at  different  ages,  are  illustrated  by  Diagram  1. 
It  is  to  be  regretted  that  there  are  not  enough  statistics 
at  hand  to  enable  the  lines  to  be  drawn  as  exact  max- 
ima and  minima. 


Age  0  id  20  30 

Diagram  i. 

On  the  base  line  of  the  diagram  are  indicated  the 
successive  ages  of  childhood,  adolescence,  and  maturity. 
The  curves  show  the  relative  development  of  the  ac- 
quisitive, the  assimilative,  and  the  expressive  powers,  at 
different  periods.  It  would  not  be  far  from  the  truth 
to  say  that  not  only  relatively,  but  absolutely,  more 
knowledge  is  acquired  in  the  first  twelve  years  of  life 
than  in  any  twelve  years  thereafter. 

The  assimilative  powers  reach  their  maturity  after 
the  acquisitive,  and  somewhat  earlier  than  the  express- 


254 


PSYCHO  LOG  Y  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


ive,  and  all  are  capable  of  the  highest  activity  in  the 
"  middle  years  of  life."  The  diagram  is  intended  to 
indicate  the  relative  activity  of  the  mental  powers,  and 
not  the  actual  amount  of  work  done  by  them  ;  for  the 
quantity  of  knowledge-material  gathered  by  the  ac- 
quisitive powers  is  always  greater  than  can  be  fully 
assimilated,  and  more  can  be  assimilated  than  can  be 
expressed. 

In  accordance  with  these  facts,  provision  should  be 
made  for  acqiiisitional  exercises  and  studies  during  the 
first  eight  years  of  school  life,  assuming  the  child  to  be 
four  years  old  when  he  enters  the  kindergarten  ;  for 
assimilational  exercises  and  studies,  from  about  the 
beginning  of  the  high  school  year,  through  the  college ; 
and  for  expressional  studies  and  exercises,  from  the 
freshman  year  in  college,  through  the  university  course. 

It  must  be  clearly  understood  that  no  attempt  is 
made  here  to  draw  any  hard-and-fast  line  of  demarca- 

Reiative  tion  between  mental  powers,  school  years, 
Emphasis.  or  studies.  It  is  simply  meant,  that,  during 
the  first  years  of  school  life,  emphasis  should  be  laid 
on  acquisitional  studies ;  during  youth,  assimilational 
exercises  should  be  made  prominent ;  and  in  early 
adult  life,  the  expressional  studies  should  receive  the 
emphasis.  All  three  kinds  of  studies  and  exercises 
should,  of  course,  be  carried  on  concurrently,  even  in 
primary  schools ;  but  one  kind  should  occupy  the  larger 
place  in  the  curriculum  at  one  time,  another  at  another 
time.  The  proportionate  stress  to  be  put  upon  the 
different  classes  of  studies  in  the  several  grades  of  ad- 
vancement is  approximately  indicated  by  Diagram  2. 

In  this  diagram,  on  the  base  line,  are  marked  off  the 
several  agencies  of  formal  education.     The  curves  show 


APPLICATIONS  TO  FORMAL  EDUCATION.        255 


Diagram  2. 


•^ 


C\ 


•^ 


the  relative  emphasis  put  upon  the  different  classes  of 
studies  in  the  various  grades  of  schools. 

According  to  the  definition  given  in  Chapter  I.,  teach- 
ing consists  in  instructing,  developing,  training.  These 
three  things,  consciously  done  by  the  teacher,  corre- 
spond severally  to  the  three  operations  of  the  growing 
mind.  Instructing  (giving  information)  corresponds  to 
acquisition  ;  developing  (increasing  power)  corresponds 
to  assimilation,  for  there  can  be  no  growth  or  gain  in 
power  except  through  assimilation ;  training  (resulting 
in  skill)  corresponds  to  expression.  Primary  studies  and 
exercises,  then,  and  the  work  of  the  primary  teacher, 
should  be  planned  in  the  main,  for  instruction,  to  fur- 
nish the  pupil  with  abundant  knowledge  suited  to  his 
capacity  to  retain  and  assimilate.  The  actual  amount 
of  instruction  given  should  not  only  not  be  diminished, 
but  increased,  in  the  secondary  school  and  college;  but 
relatively  there  should  be  much  more  study  and  teach- 
ing designed  to  develop  the  mental  powers.  So,  while 
the  quantity  of  assimilational  (developing)  work  in- 
creases through  the  college  and  university,  the  amount 


256 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


of  exprcssional  studying  and  teaching  should  be  large 
in  the  college,  and  even  in  the  high  school,  and  should 
reach  a  maximum  both  relative  and  absolute  in  the 
university  or  professional  school.  Diagram  3  puts 
these  statements  in  graphic  form. 


Moral  Education. 

Although  the  need  that  the  school  should  educate 
morally  as  well  as  intellectually  has  long  been  recog- 
nized, and  various  attempts  have  been  made  to  supply 
that  need,  yet  the  matter  of  ethical  training  and  char- 
acter building  has  never  received  so  much  attention  as 
now.  To-day  it  is  generally  agreed  that  ethical  educa- 
tion is  of  the  first  importance.  The  experience  of  the 
past  half  century  has  shown  that  intellectual  education 
alone  does  not  make  upright  men  and  women,  nor  does 
it  relieve  the  congestion  of  prisons  and  reformatories. 

Nor  has  intellectual  education  plus  a  revived  phys- 
ical training  effected  more  than  intellectual  education 
alone,  in  the  improvement  of  moral  character:  indeed, 
some  of  the  many  physical-education  fads,  both  in  and 
out  of  the  schools,  may  be  said  with  truth  to  behaving 


APPLICATIONS  TO  FORMAL  EDUCATION. 


257 


a  contrary  effect.  Moral  education  must  be  added  to 
bodily  training  and  intellectual  cultivation,  in  order  to 
secure  a  sound  and  sturdy  moral  growth. 

The  general  method  in  moral  education  is  the  same 
as  in  intellectual:  there  must  be  instruction,  develop- 
ment, training.     Ethical  facts  must  be  placed    .,   .   J . 

61  l  Method  in 

before  the  pupil:   he  must  perceive  and  feel  Moral  Edu- 
their  significance,  their  relations  to  him ;  and      catI0n- 
the  will  must  be  habituated  to  prompt  determination 
and  execution. 

The  question  whether  there  should  be  specific  reli- 
gious teaching  in  public  schools  will  probably  continue 
to  be  partially  answered  by  legislation  in  some  commu- 
nities, by  popular  sentiment  or  prejudice  in  others.  The 
answer  psychology  gives,  is  that  right  moral  education 
and  sound  intellectual  education  are  inseparably  bound 
up  together;  the  religious  nature  is  a  very  real  part  of 
the  mental  life  of  the  human  being,  and  therefore  its 
cultivation  is  necessary  to  a  well-rounded  education. 

Psychology  also  plainly  shows  that  in  the  moral  edu- 
cation of  the  young  the  here  and  not  the  hereafter,  deeds 
and  not  creeds,  should  receive  the  emphasis. 

Summary. 

What  has  been  said  in  the  preceding  pages  of  this 
chapter  is  graphically  expressed  in  Diagram  4  (p.  258). 

The  left-hand  vertical  column  shows  the  stages  of 
formal  education,  beginning  even  in  the  home,  and 
extending  through  the  university.     The  fig-     _    . 

00  J  &        Explana- 

ures  in  this  column  indicate  the  average  ages      tion  of 
at  which  each  stage  is  entered  and  left.     The    D,agram- 
writer  believes  that  a  proper  organization  of  the  indi- 
vidual school  will  enable  each  stage  above  the  kinder- 
Roark  Psych. —  17. 


258 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


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APPLICATIONS   TO  IVA'MAI   EDCCATION. 


259 


gartcn  to  be  shortened  a  full  year.  The  columns  covered 
by  braces  show  the  three  main  groups  of  studies  and 
exercises,  —  the  acquisitional,  the  assimilational,  and 
the  cxpressional,  —  with  their  subdivisions.  The  right- 
hand  column  indicates  that  the  earliest  work  in  every 
branch  is,  on  the  teacher's  side,  largely  instructing; 
that  between  the  grammar  school  and  the  university  it  is 
largely  developing ;  and  that  through  the  university  it 
is  training.  When  the  child  enters  the  primary  school, 
he  knows  a  little  of  everything;  he  knows  something 
of  science,  of  numbers,  and  of  language  and  the  humani- 
ties. It  is  the  business  of  the  school,  all  the  way  up, 
to  use  what  the  pupil  knows  as  a  means  of  interpreta- 
tion and  correlation  of  what  is  unknown  and  unfamiliar. 

Up  to  and  through  at  least  the  first  half  of  the  college 
course,  the  aim  should  be  a  general  education,  —  instruc- 
tion in  the  principal  elements  of  human  knowledge, 
development  of  all  the  powers  of  body  and  mind,  and 
some  general  training.  During  the  last  half  of  the  col- 
lege course,  the  student  should  be  allowed  to  specialize 
somewhat,  in  preparation  for  the  work  of  the  university. 
In  the  university  the  work  should  be  mainly  in  some 
chosen  specialty,  wherein  training,  the  cultivation  of 
skill  in  some  particular  thing,  should  be  the  prime  object. 

Psychology  shows,  then,  that  in  arranging  the  courses 
of  study   in   a   system   of    schools,    there   is   a  chrono- 
logical order  to  be  followed,  based  not  only  chronoiogi- 
011    the    fact    that   mind  grows,   but    on   the    cal°rder- 
deeper  fact  that  it  grows  by  the  development  of  differ- 
ent powers  at  different  times  and  at  varying  rates. 

For  the  same  reason,  a  chronological  order  should  be 
observed  in  the  arrangement  of  the  curriculum  of  the 
individual   school.     In   the  first   third    of   the    course, 


26o  ps  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

acquisitional  studies  should  predominate;  in  the  second, 
assimilational ;  and  in  the  last  third,  expressional. 

But  there  should  also  be,  in  the  individual  school,  a 

concurrent  arrangement ;  that  is,  an  arrangement  which 

provides  for  the  pursuit  of  the  three  kinds 

Concurrent    L  A  ,  ... 

Arrange-  of  studies  at  the  same  time.  This  is  simply 
ment'  a  restatement  of  the  proposition,  that  though 
at  one  stage  of  formal  education  acquisitional  studies 
should  receive  the  main  emphasis,  yet  the  assimilational 
and  the  expressional  should  receive  due  attention  also. 
Approximately  stated,  in  the  primary  and  grammar 
schools  the  proportionate  division  of  time  would  be,  to 
acquisitional  studies  one  half  to  two  thirds,  to  assimila- 
tional and  expressional  together  one  third  to  one  half; 
in  the  high  school  and  college,  to  assimilational  studies 
one  half  to  two  thirds,  to  the  others  one  third  to  one 
half;  in  the  university,  to  expressional  studies  one 
half  to  two  thirds,  to  the  others  one  third  to  one  half. 

A  division  of  work  corresponding  to  the  tripartite 
manifestation  of  the  mental  energy  ramifies  still  more 
minutely  into  the  exercises  of  the  school.  Every  study 
presents  new  facts,  new  ideas,  new  words,  for  the 
student  to  acquire  and  assimilate ;  and  he  should  be 
required  adequately  to  express  his  own  thought  about 
these,  in  his  own  language.  And  in  assigning  each  les- 
son, the  teacher  provides  a  definite  amount  of  subject- 
matter  to  -be  acquired  and  assimilated,  and  should 
carefully  test  the  result  of  the  pupil's  study  by  his 
expression  in  the  recitation. 

Concentration. 
By  the  term  concentration  is  meant,  in  modern  peda- 
gogy, the  relating  and  unifying  of  the  subjects  in  a 


APPLICATIONS  TO  FORMAL  EDUCATION.        26l 

course  of  study,  and  of  the  facts  in  the  mind  of  the 
learner. 

Tompkins  admirably  expresses  the  idea  in  his  defini- 
tion of  the  correlation  of  studies:  "Correlation,  then, 
is  putting  such  subjects  side  by  side  at  a  given  time  in 
the  course  as  will  help  to  bring  to  view  the  universal 
relations  involved  in  the  study  of  any  one  of  them." 

It  has  been  repeatedly  emphasized  throughout  these 
pages,  that  no  fact  standing  alone  is  valuable,  that  only 
as  its  relations  to  other  facts  are  perceived  can  it  be 
understood  and  made  of  use.  This  truth  must  be  kept 
in  mind  in  arranging  every  course  of  study,  in  planning 
every  exercise,  in  conducting  every  recitation. 

No  subject  should  be  taught  as  complete  or  valuable 
in  itself:  the  mutual  relations  of  all  subjects  should  be 
constantly  pointed  out  and  illustrated.     The  „   _  . . 

J    r  No  Subject 

value,  in  the  practical  affairs  of  life,  of  read-  valuable 
ing,  spelling,  writing,  and  arithmetic,  should 
be  shown  to  the  beginner  by  numerous  illustrations; 
the  young  student  of  geography,  history,  and  civics, 
should  have  made  plain  to  him  their  interrelations,  and 
their  practical  value  to  the  individual  and  to  society. 
In  more  advanced  work,  the  usefulness  of  mathematics 
in  every  field  of  investigation,  the  utility  as  well  as  the 
beauty  of  the  natural  and  experimental  sciences,  should 
be  clearly  shown;  and  every  student  of  the  modern  or 
classical  languages  should  be  led  to  see  and  enjoy 
the  close  kinship  of  language,  literature,  logic,  and 
philosophy. 

No  recitation  should  be  conducted  as  complete  in 
itself:  each  lesson  should  be  fitted  on  to  Application 
what  has  preceded  and  to  what  is  to  follow'. to  Recitation. 
Each    recitation    should    begin   with   a   brief    review   of 


262  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

what  has  been  gone  over  recently,  and  should  close 
with  a  "preview"  of  the  next  work. 

It  is  a  fact,  noted  often  by  the  observant  teacher, 
that  a  pupil  is  not  able  to  apply  his  spelling-book 
knowledge  of  spelling  when  he  comes  to  write  a  note ; 
that  he  may  be  excellent  in  text-book  arithmetic,  but 
very  poor  in  the  solution  of  practical  problems  outside 
the  book;  that  he  may  make  perfect  recitations  in  the 
geography  class,  but  be  unable  to  locate  the  places  he 
reads  of  in  history.  Concentration,  or  correlation,  is 
necessary,  not  only  because  facts  must  be  related  in 
consciousness  in  order  to  be  understood,  but 

Concentra-        ,  .  ,  ,  ,  .     .  , 

tion  an  Aid  also  because  they  must  be  related  in  order 
to  Remem-  ^Q  foQ  retained  and  recalled  by  memory.     It 

bering. 

was  shown  in  Chapter  VII.  that  the  laws 
of  association,  or  memory,  may  be  all  comprehended 
under  the  one  law  of  relation.  "  Ideas,  just  as  soldiers, 
need  to  be  mobilized  speedily  in  order  to  meet  a  spe- 
cific demand;"  and  the  "mobilization"  of  ideas  de- 
pends on  their  being  related.  To  be  educated  means, 
for  one  thing,  to  be  able  to  summon  all  one's  knowl- 
edge in  any  given  case,  and  to  summon  it  quickly. 

The  student's  comprehension  of  the  interdependence 
and  interrelation  of  all  branches  of  knowledge  will,  of 

„  course,  depend   in  very  large  measure  upon 

Depart-  l  jo  r 

mental      the  kind  of   teaching   he  receives.     In  this 

Teaching.      ^.^   j.^  ^    ^y    Q£    ^j^   jg    ca11ed    "  clepart. 

mental  teaching,"  by  which  is  meant  teaching  by 
specialists,  each  employed  to  teach  but  one  branch. 
The  specialist — whether  a  teacher  of  drawing  or  music 
in  a  system  of  city  schools,  or  a  delver  into  the  minutiae 
of  some  subject  in  a  university  —  is  too  prone  to  know 
no  branch  and  value  no  branch  but  his  own,  and  there- 


ATP  LIC  AT  TONS  TO  FORMAL  EDUCATION.        263 

fore  to  make  no  attempt,  in  teaching  it,  to  relate  it  to 
any  other. 

Although,  as  said  above,  concentration  depends 
largely  upon  the  teacher,  yet  a  great  deal  may  be 
done  through  a  well-arranged  text-book  to  Concentra. 
show  the  connection  of  subjects  of  study,  tion  in  the 
especially  in  the  lower  grades.  One  very 
valuable  book,  for  instance,  shows  the  teacher  how  to 
combine  number  work  and  nature  study,  and  it  has 
been  suggested  that  the  idea  narrowly  applied  in  this 
book  may  easily  and  successfully  be  carried  further, 
and  that,  in  the  primary  grades  at  least,  all  the  matter 
suited  to  a  certain  grade  may  be  put  into  one  book, 
thus  securing  the  teaching  of  the  different  branches 
in  their  proper  relations.  Such  a  text-book  would  be 
welcomed  by  the  inexperienced  teacher,  who  could  use 
it  to  much  advantage ;  and  the  skillful  teacher  could 
use  it  at  least  equally  as  well  as  he  can  use  several 
different  books. 

School  Management. 

As  psychology  furnishes  the  principles  by  which  any 
consistent  arrangement  of  educational  systems  and 
school  courses  must  be  made,  so  it  also  furnishes  the 
principles  of  a  rational  and  effective  administration  of 
the  individual  school  as  a  whole,  and  constitutes  the 
basis  of  a  scientific  methodology  by  which  the  work 
of  teaching  may  best  be  done. 

The  elementary  principles  of  school  management 
have  been  somewhat  emphasized  incidentally  at  vari- 
ous points  in  the  preceding  chapters,  and  but  little 
more  need  be  said  here.  The  basic  principles  by 
which  the  organization  of  a  school   is  made  effective 


2 64  ps  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

are  essentially  the  same  for  the  university  as  for  the 
kindergarten.  The  fundamental  factor  is  interest ;  and 
the  primary  principle,  including  all  others,  which 
addresses  itself  to  the  teacher,  whether  the  leader  of  a 
kindergarten  game  or  the  president  of  a  university,  is, 
"  Secure  the  interested  activity  of  your  pupils,  and  their 
sympathetic  cooperation  in  the  work  you  are  trying  to 
do  for  them."  If  this  be  done,  no  "  discipline  "  will  be 
necessary.  To  act  in  accord  with  this  principle  is  for 
the  teacher  to  be  genuinely  interested  himself,  and  to 
make  his  pupils  feel  that  he  is  working  both  for  and 
with  them,  with  common  aims  and  purposes.  The 
worst  thing  that  can  happen  in  school  administration, 
is  for  the  teacher  or  faculty  and  the  students  to  become 
polarized,  —  mutually  antagonistic  in  aims  and  methods. 
It  is  true  in  a  college  or  in  a  country  school,  that,  when 
the  esprit  de  corps  of  the  students  is  aroused  against  a 
faculty  or  a  teacher,  the  result  is  destructive  of  all  true 
growth  and  good  order. 

The  detailed  discussion  of  effective  school  adminis- 
tration falls  within  the  department  of  pedagogy  gen- 
erally called  "  school  management,"  a  science  and  art 
necessarily  based  largely  on  psychology. 

Another  department  of  pedagogy  is  methodology. 
Tli is  will  receive  general  treatment  in  the  following 
chapter. 


METHODOLOGY. 


263 


CHAPTER    XX. 

METHODOLOGY. 

Time  was  when  the  teacher  and  his  employers  were 
content  if  he  knew  the  "three  R's"  moderately  well. 
But  the  idea,  once  almost  universally  prevalent,  that 
knowledge  of  the  branches  to  be  taught  is  all  that  is 
necessary  to  the  equipment  of  a  teacher,  —  that  to  know 
a  thing  is  to  be  able  to  teach  it,  —  is  now  held  only  by 
the  uninformed. 

One  who  knows  arithmetic  thoroughly  is  not  neces- 
sarily able,    by    reason    of  that  knowledge, 

.        J  fa    '     Knowledge 

to  teach  arithmetic  well.      Skill  in  teaching  aioneisnot 
grammar  is  not  a  consequence  of  a  sound     enou£h- 
knowledge  of   grammar. 

Nor  is  ability  to  teach  made  up  of  a  thorough  knowl- 
edge of  subject-matter  plus  a  knowledge  of  the  modes 
of  growth  and  the  operations  of  the  mind.  A  man 
may  have  full  and  exact  knowledge  of  anatomy  and 
physiology ;  he  may,  in  addition,  know  the  character 
and  specific  effect  of  every  drug  in  the  pharmacopoeia; 
and  yet  he  may  be  utterly  unable  to  diagnose  a  disease, 
or  prescribe  the  proper  remedies.  To  be  a  physician, 
he  must  know  not  only  the  anatomy  and  functions  of 
the  bodily  organs,  and  the  effects  of  drugs  and  ways  of 
living,  but  he  must  also  know  how  to  diagnose  and 
prescribe,  how  and  when  to  apply  the  remedies  that 
will  cause  a  diseased  organ  to  react  into  normal  func- 
tioning, or  prevent  its  becoming  abnormal. 


266  PS  YCIIOLOG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

The  teacher  must  know  the  three  M's,  —  Matter, 
Mind,  Method.  To  knowledge  of  the  subject-matter, 
and  knowledge  of  mind  and  mind  growth,  he  must  add 
knowledge  of  how  to  bring  subject-matter  and  growing 
mind  into  such  contact  as  shall  cause  mind  to  react 
normally  on  knowledge-material,  and  to  acquire,  assimi- 
late, and  express. 

A  teacher  with  good  method  and  limited  knowledge 
will  do  far  better  work  than  one  with  full  knowledge 
and  poor  method :  without  mctJwd  he  is  not  a  teacher 
at  all,  no  matter  how  much  subject-matter  he  knows. 

Dr.  Laurie  says,  "  The  doctrine  of  method  is  the  last 
chapter  in  the  theory  or  science  of  education,  and  the 
The  value  first  chapter  of  the  art  or  practice  of  educa- 
of  Method,  tion."  The  practical  value  of  methodology 
cannot  be  better  stated  than  in  two  more  of  Dr.  Laurie's 
crisp  sentences:  "It  is  necessary  to  instruct  according 
to  method,  if  our  instruction  is  to  be  sound  and  sure, 
and,  above  all,  if  we  are  to  train  and  discipline  mind. 
And  this  is  the  point  to  emphasize,  that  training  and 
discipline  are  greater  than  knowledge,  and  that  only  by 
sound  mctJwd  can  we  train  and  discipline  faculty." 

A  legitimate  inference  from  this  is,  that  to  secure 
that  development  and  training  which  it  is  the  business 

Method  °^  a  Scncral>  as  distinct  from  a  special,  edu- 
morethan  cation  to  give,  the  mctliod  of  teaching  is  of 
more  value  than  the  matter  of  instruction. 
And  this  is  true,  provided  the  matter  of  instruction, 
whatever  it  is,  is  suited  to  the  advancement  and  capacity 
of  the  student,  and  furnishes  stimulus  and  nutriment 
to  all  the  mind's  activities. 

The  manner  of  knowing  is,  within  these  limits,  of 
more  value  in  mental  growth   than  the  things  known. 


MET  HO  no  LOGY.  26j 

For  knowledge  to  be  valuable,  either  from  the  utili- 
tarian standpoint  or  from  the  culture  standpoint,  it 
must  be  not  merely  known,  but  must  be  correlated, 
classified,  and  interfused  and  illuminated  by  the  per- 
sonality of  the  individual  knowing  it.  The  highest 
vahu-  of  knowledge,  or  its  worthlessness,  is  in  this  tint 
of  personality  which  is  the  essence  of  the  manner  of 
know  ing. 

It  is  not  intended  here  to  enter  the  discussion  of  the 
relative  value  of  different  subjects  in  a  general  educa- 
tion ;  but  it  is  simply  meant  that  the  value  of  whatever 
is  studied  in  a  general  curriculum  lies  more  in  the 
manner  of  learning  and  knowing  than  in  the  knowledge 
itself. 

The    manner    of    knowing    depends    greatly    upon 
method  in  teaching.     But  the  distinction  be-  Method  and 
tween  method  and  methods  is  too  frequently    Methods- 
ignored,  not  only  by  critics  of  pedagogical  science,  but 
by  teachers  themselves. 

By  method  is  to  be  understood  that  body  of  prin- 
ciples, drawn  from  a  sound  psychology,  which  are 
applicable  to  all  teaching;  by  methods  are  to  be  under- 
stood the  special  plans  and  devices  to  be  used  in  teach- 
ing a  particular  branch  or  subject. 

The  teacher  who  has  no  sure  foundation  in  method 
is  prune  to  "  run  to  seed  "  in  methods,  and  will  almost 
certainly  fall  into  a  mechanical  routine  of  petty  devices 
that  are  as  far  from  real  teaching  as  was  the  old  mem- 
ory cram.  A  weakness  of  many  normal  schools  has 
been,  that  they  laid  more  stress  on  methods  than  on 
method. 

Method  is  obtained  mainly  by  induction  from  psy- 
chology and  intelligent  experience  ;   methods  are  deduc- 


268  PS  YCHOLOG  V  IN  ED UCA  TTOM. 

tions  from  method,  to  be  applied  to  particular  cases. 
Thus  from  general  method  we  may  deduce  a  special 
method  of  teaching  science,  and  still  further  specialize 
it  for  physics,  or  chemistry,  or  botany.  There  is  a 
general  method  to  be  followed  in  mathematics,  but 
different  special  methods  in  arithmetic  and  algebra. 

Not  only  has  each  branch  and  subject  its  own  meth- 
odology, but  there  is  a  special  methodology  for  reci- 
,_  J    tations,  for  reviews,  for  examinations ;    and 

A  Method- 
ology for     instructing,  developing,  training,  —  each  has 

each  Branch,  j^  Qwn   characteristic  method. 

The  teacher  must  rely  more  on  method  than  on 
devices  ;  and  after  deducing  a  special  method,  he  must, 
in  practice,  constantly  modify  his  deduction  by  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  new  or  unusual  factors  presented  by  any 
given  problem  of  teaching. 

It  is  only  with  general  method,  and  perhaps  a  few 
of  its  more  important  special  applications,  that  this 
chapter  deals. 

Psychological  vs.  Logical  Method. 

The  first  fact  which  the  teacher  needs  to  get  firmly 
in  mind,  and  to  keep  aware  of  in  all  his  teaching,  is 
that  the  logical  order  of  development  of  a  subject  is 
not  always,  not  even  often,  the  psychological  order. 

The  beginner  must  be  taught  to  read  before  he 
knows  the  alphabet  or  can  spell :  short  sentences  and 
words  mean  something  to  children,  letters  do  not. 
Yet  a  logical  method  would  require  the  letters  to  be 
first  learned,  their  combination  into  words  next,  and 
last  of  all  the  building  of  words  into  sentences. 

To  teach  arithmetic  logically  would  be  to  begin  with 
the  abstract  ideas  of  unity  and  number,  and  from  these 


METHODOLOGY. 


269 


to  unfold  all  number  relations  and  processes.  To  teach 
arithmetic  psychologically  is  to  begin  with  concrete 
things,  and  show  how  a  number  of  objects  may  be 
increased  and  diminished. 

The  logical  teaching  of  geography  would  begin  with 
the  form  of  the  earth,  its  imaginary  and  real  divisions, 
and  proceed  from  these  to  the  description  mustra- 
of  the  various  portions  of  land  and  water,  tions- 
and  the  different  peoples  using  them.  Geography  is 
taught  psychologically  by  beginning  with  simple  forms 
of  land  and  water  and  phenomena  of  the  atmosphere, 
that  are  familiar  to  the  child,  and  leading  him  to  under- 
stand, through  these,  the  larger  land  and  water  forms 
and  the  more  complex  phenomena  of  the  earth  and  air. 

History  should  be  taught  to  the  beginner  mainly 
in  the  form  of  biography  and  stories,  rather  than  in 
chronological  narrative.  Civics  should  begin  with  the 
simple  facts  of  home  government,  and  be  developed 
from  these  through  the  school  and  the  local  community. 

A  logical  presentation  of  physiology  would  begin 
with  the  cells  and  tissues  of  the  body,  and  trace  their 
combinations  into  organs  and  systems.  But  it  would 
be  unwise  to  teach  the  subject  in  that  way  even  to 
mature  pupils :  tissues  and  cells  should  be  the  last 
things  studied.  The  same  statement  applies  also  to 
botany  and  zoology. 

All  subjects  should  be  introduced,  when  possible,  by 
means    of    objects ;    for,    psychologically,    progress    is 
from  the  concrete  (the  visible  and  tangible)       _. 
to  the  abstract.     All  first  knowledge  comes  concrete  to 
by  way  of  the  senses,  and  this  fact  shows 
the  necessity  for  objective  teaching.     Things  must  be 
seen  and   handled  before   their  abstract  relations  can 


270  PS  YCHOLOC  Y  IN  ED UCA  TION. 

be  perceived.  Many  concepts  of  concrete  things  must 
Thin  s  ke  gained  before  there  can  be  any  abstract 
before       notions  formed  of  beauty,  utility,  or  deepei 

Symbols.  ,     ,. 

relations. 

The  child  thinks  in  things  and  their  images  before 
he  can  think  in  symbols.  The  concept  of  six  things, 
for  example,  must  be  formed  before  the  idea  of  six  as 
an  abstract  number  is  possible.  A  thing  or  its  picture 
must  become  familiar  before  the  word  symbolizing  it 
can  be  understood. 

The  teacher  must  be  on  guard  in  his  use  of  the 
object  method,  however,  lest  he  habituate  his  pupils 
to  depend  too  much  on  objects  or  pictures.  If  an 
abstract  line  of  thought  is  to  be  followed,  the  pupils 
must  be  made  to  think  it  (not  thing  it)  through. 

The  principle  into  which  all  this  may  be  generalized 
is,  The  mind  lea?- us  by  passing  from  the  near,  t  lie  famil- 
iar, the  concrete,  to  the  remote,  the  strange,  the  abstract. 

In  working  by  this  principle  it  is  necessary  to  remem- 
ber that  the  act  of  learning  involves  two  operations 
of  the  mind, —  acquisition  and  assimilation. 

Learning    -j;ne  distinction  between  these  as  processes 

involves 

Acquisition  of  learning  has,  it  seems,  not  always  been 
andAssimi-  kgpj-  jn  view  by  those  who  have  discussed 

lation.  x  J 

method  in  teaching. 

The  mind's  activities  are  so  blended  with  one  another 
that  it  is  not  possible  to  draw  hard-and-fast  lines  be- 
tween its  operations  or  the  methods  by  which  they  are 
carried  on.  Acquisition  and  assimilation  go  on  together 
in  the  minds  of  children  before  they  reach  school  age. 
The  mind  begins  to  assimilate  almost  as  soon  as  it 
begins  to  acquire. 

But   the  general   truth   may  be  laid  down,  that  the 


METHODOLOGY. 


271 


method  of  acquisition  is  analytic,  going  from  wholes  to 
parts.  The  child  and  the  adult  alike  acquire  facts, 
primary  ideas,  words,  as  wholes.  A  first  im-  Acquisition 
pression  is  a  general  one:  the  mind  is  not  con-  >s  Analytic, 
scious  at  first  of  the  details.  A  new  sight,  a  new  sound, 
a  new  taste,  are  all  perceived  as  wholes,  without  refer- 
ence at  first  to  their  elements  or  minor  characteristics. 
After  we  have  grown  somewhat  accustomed  to  a  sensa- 
tion, a  feeling,  an  idea,  as  a  whole,  we  begin  to  analyze 
it  into  its  parts  or  attributes. 

Analytic  Method. 

Corresponding  to  the  analytic  process  of  learning  is 
the  analytic  method  of  teaching.  A  good  illustration 
is  the  sentence  method  of  teaching  reading.  Short  sen- 
tences, preferably  made  by  the  children,  are  written  on 
the  blackboard,  and  seen  and  read  as  wholes.  After 
the  pupils  become  familiar  with  a  number  of  such  sen- 
tences, and  can  read  them  easily,  they  are  analyzed  into 
words,  and  the  words  into  sounds  and  letters.  In  ele- 
mentary grammar,  the  parts  of  speech  are  given  before 
any  attempt  is  made  to  present  their  modifications  and 
properties. 

It  is  necessary  for  the  teacher  to  bear  in  mind  the 
fact  that  what  is  to  him  a  part  may  be  to  the  child  a 
whole,  and  a  whole  too  large  to  grasp.  Parts  and 
wholes  are  relative.  The  earth,  considered  with  refer- 
ence to  its  geography,  is  a  whole  ;  with  reference  to  the 
solar  system,  it  is  a  part.  To  the  child  just  learning 
to  talk,  a  word  is  a  whole  ;  to  the  same  child,  when  a 
little  older,  a  sentence  is  a  whole,  and  the  words  are 
parts. 

In    instructing,  therefore,  the  teacher  must    be  con 


272 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TTON. 


stantly  careful  to  ascertain  what  concepts  the  pupil  can 
grasp  as  wholes,  and  present  those  first.  He  must  know 
not  only  how,  but  when,  to  give  a  new  idea  to  his  pupils. 
The  different  ways  in  which  physiology,  for  example, 

niustra-  should  be  presented  to  pupils  of  different 
tions.  ages  w\\\  illustrate  the  last  two  statements. 
To  the  child  of  six  or  seven,  the  names  and  uses  of 
one  organ  at  a  time  are  given,  as  head  or  hand :  to  the 
more  advanced  students,  an  outline  view  of  the  whole 
body  should  be  given  first.  The  child  comprehends 
the  hand  as  a  whole,  the  older  pupils  can  grasp  the 
concept  of  the  body  as  a  whole.  The  method  of 
teaching  is  in  both  cases  analytic. 

United  States  history  is  taught  in  primary  grades 
by  stories  and  descriptions  of  persons  and  places.  In 
the  higher  grades,  the  subject  should  be  presented  so 
that  in  the  first  lesson  the  pupils  will  get  a  bird's-eye 
view  of  the  whole,  by  periods  or  epochs.  The  differ- 
ence lies  in  what  shall  be  presented  as  wholes  to  young 
children,  and  what  to  older  pupils. 

But  no  matter  how  advanced  the  pupils  may  be,  it 
will  be  found  best  in  every  case  to  present  a  new  sub- 
ject by  giving  them  a  general  view  of  the  whole  of  it 
first.  Any  student  can  work  better  on  details  if  he  has 
some  notion  of  the  general  content  of  his  subject.  We 
can  follow  a  road  with  better  heart  and  more  active 
step  if  we  know  in  what  direction  and  to  what  good 
end  it  leads. 

Analysis  precedes   assimilation.     A   thing  must  be 

examined   with   reference  to   its  parts  and   attributes 

Assimilation  before  we  can  perceive  its  relations  to  other 

isSynthetic.  things,  and   give  it   a  correct  classification. 

But  the  essential  act  of  conception,  which  is  the  first 


METHODOLOGY. 


273 


step  in  assimilation,  is  a  synthesis.  To  form  a  concept, 
several  attributes  must  be  put  together :  to  form  a 
class,  several  objects  must  be  put  together. 

To  assimilate,  to  understand,  is  to  perceive  relations 
between  things;  and  the  perception  of  relations  con- 
sists in,  or  at  least  results  in,  the  synthesizing  of  two 
or  more  attributes.  When  a  thing  is  assimilated,  it  is 
put  in  our  body  of  knowledge  as  a  part  in  the  whole. 
Assimilation,  as  used  in  the  preceding  paragraphs,  has 
much  the  same  meaning  as  the  Herbartian  term  apper- 
ception. Elsewhere  in  this  book  assimilation  is  used  in 
a  wider  application  ;  but  the  processes  described  are  all 
synthetic.  Thus,  in  imagining,  we  build  together  vari- 
ous elements  to  make  new  images;  in  willing,  we  weld 
thoughts  and  feelings  into  purpose  and  action. 

Synthetic  Method. 

The  method  of  teaching,  to  secure  assimilation,  should 
therefore  be  synthetic.  Facts  and  ideas  should  be  pre- 
sented as  parts  to  be  put  together,  or  to  be  fitted  on 
to  what  has  already  been  learned.  It  is  an  excellent 
plan  to  follow  every  analysis  with  a  corresponding  syn- 
thesis. For  example,  in  physiology,  after  the  body 
has  been  studied  by  proceeding  from  the  whole  to  its 
parts,  —  to  the  several  systems,  organs,  tissues,  cells, — 
the  subject  should  be  reviewed  in  reverse  order,  from 
the  cells  to  the  whole  body.  After  grammar  has  been 
gone  over  by  passing  analytically  from  the  sentence  to 
words  and  their  properties,  the  pupil  should  then  review 
by  beginning  with  the  different  parts  of  speech,  and 
putting  them  into  proper  relations  in  the  formation  of 
elements  and  sentences. 

The    compound    term    analytico-synthetic    is    often 

Roark  Psych.  — 18. 


274 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


used  to  indicate  the  intimate  connection  between  the 
two  methods,  and  shows  that  analysis  should  precede 
synthesis. 

Inductive  Method. 

The  inductive  method  of  teaching  closely  resembles 
the  synthetic  in  that  it  proceeds  from  the  particular  to 
the  general,  but  differs  from  the  synthetic  in  that  it  is 
used  as  a  means  of  reaching  general  principles  and 
rules,  while  the  synthetic  method  is  a  means  of  forming 
concepts  and  classes. 

The  inductive  method  should  be  used  by  the  teacher 
in  every  subject  in  which  principles  and  rules  are  to 
be  taught.  And  in  almost  all  subjects  below  those 
belonging  to  the  high  school  or  the  college,  definitions 
should  be  developed  inductively  instead  of  being  given 
ready-made.  Definitions  and  rules  are  brief  generaliza- 
tions of  many  particular  cases,  and  therefore  should  be 
arrived  at  inductively. 

For  example,  in  arithmetic,  the  processes  in  the  solu- 
tion of  problems  of  a  particular  class  should  be  given 

in  Arith-  and  illustrated,  and  the  pupil  should  be  re- 
metic.  quired  to  use  them  until  he  understands 
them ;  then  he  is  able,  and  should  be  required,  to 
generalize  these  processes  into  rules.  The  student  will 
understand  a  rule  thus  made  by  himself.  To  have  him 
memorize  the  rules  first,  though  a  common  practice, 
is  indefensible  on  psychological  grounds.  That  text- 
book in  arithmetic  is  to  be  preferred  which  gives  very 
few  rules,  or  none  at  all :  the  student  using  such  a 
book  is  forced  to  formulate  his  own  rules. 

What  has  been  said  regarding  arithmetic  applies 
with  equal  force  to  grammar.  Technical  grammar, 
so  often  made  a  chaos  of  formal  definitions,  rules,  and 


METHODOLOGY.  275 

exceptions,  becomes  a  delightful   subject  when  made 
an  inductive  study  of  the  sentence.     It  should  be  pre- 
sented to  beginners  through  the  sentence;    In  Gram. 
for  from  the  structure  of  sentences  all  needful        mar- 
definitions  and  rules  of  grammar  can  be  generalized, 
under  skillful  teaching,  by  the  pupils  themselves. 

In  teaching  definitions  inductively  (synthetically), 
enough  examples  of  the  things  (objects  or  ideas)  to  be 
defined  should  be  presented,  and  the  pupils  Definitions 
led,  by  noting  carefully  the  common  proper-  by  induction. 
ties  exhibited,  to  frame  a  definition  that  shall  include 
these  common  properties.  For  example,  by  showing  a 
class  the  function  of  denominators,  the  pupils  may  be 
easily  led  to  make  the  definition,  "The  denominator 
of  a  fraction  shows  the  number  of  equal  parts  into 
which  the  unit  is  divided."  In  the  same  way,  a  study 
of  the  function  of  the  transitive  verb  in  a  sentence  leads 
to  the  definition,  "A  transitive  verb  is  a  verb  that 
expresses  action  as  taking  effect  upon  something." 

The  principle  of  the  inductive  method  may  be  thus 
stated :  A  clear  comprehension  of  processes  must  pre- 
cede the  statement  of  a  rule :  a  clear  concept  of  a  thing 
must  precede  the  framing  of  a  definition  of  that  thing. 

Deductive  Method. 
In  deductive  method,  the  rule,  or  principle,  or  defini- 
tion, is  learned  first,  and  then  application  is  made  of  it 
to  particular  cases.  It  was  a  method  much  in  vogue 
with  the  old-time  schoolmaster;  for  it  enabled  him  to 
require  memoritcr  recitations,  and,  in  case  a  pupil  took 
to  asking  questions,  to  silence  him  with  the  assurance 
that  "  the  rule  said  so."  Such  a  method,  persistently 
followed,  dulls  the  spirit  of  inquiry  and  investigation 


2 76  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED UCA  TION. 

in  any  school.  It  ignores  the  fact  that  the  rule  is  not 
and  can  not  be  a  reason,  —  that  it  does  not  tell  why, 
but  how. 

It  is  wise  to  use  deductive  method  with  advanced 
pupils  only.  It  is  not  advisable  to  present  a  definition 
or  rule  first  in  an  unfamiliar  subject,  and  have  the 
young  pupil  seek  for  illustrations  and  applications. 
And  when  a  ready-made  principle  or  rule  is  given  to 
even  advanced  students,  it  should  not  be  given  as  a 
finality,  complete  in  itself,  but  only  as  a  guide-post  to 
show  the  direction  the  work  is  to  take,  or  as  a  proposi- 
tion to  be  proved. 

"Culture  Epochs." 

Modern  method  recognizes  the  fact  that  the  indi- 
vidual mind  in  its  development  repeats  the  order  of 
development  of  the  race  mind. 

Mankind,  in  its  progress  from  a  rude  and  savage 
state,  passes  through  three  broadly  marked  "  culture 
epochs."  In  the  childhood  of  the  race,  myths  and 
legends,  accounts  of  demigods  and  heroes,  abound. 
All  objects  in  nature  are  endowed  with  personality, 
and  natural  phenomena  are  explained  as  the  acts  of 
gods  or  demons.  As  the  race  advances,  imagination 
and  superstition  are  modified  by  close  observation  and 
increasing  experience,  a  beginning  is  made  in  empirical 
science,  and  the  practical  arts  are  established.  As 
progress  continues,  pure  science  takes  the  place  of 
empiricism,  and  the  search  for  the  relations  and  causes 
of  things  gives  rise  to  philosophy  and  speculative 
investigation. 

Civilized  man  passes  through  these  three  stages  of 
mind  growth  in  his  individual  life,  and  the  processes  of 


ME  T HO  DO  I.  OGY.  2JJ 

his  education  should  be  in  accord  with  them.  For  the 
child  there  should  be  fairy  stories,  fables,  the  personifi- 
cation of  natural  forces,  and  true  biography  of  the 
world's  heroes.  For  the  youth  there  must  be  much 
observing  and  experimenting,  trial  of  many  things,  and 
accumulation  of  facts  in  every  field  of  knowledge. 
For  the  man  there  must  be  investigation  and  inquiry 
into  ultimate  causes,  —  the  why  and  how  of  things. 
A  little  reflection  will  show  that  all  that   _..  r_,  . 

Chief  Prin- 

has  been  said  so  far  regarding  method  can      cipie  of 
be  summed  up  in  the  one  principle:      The       et  °  ' 
processes  of  education  should  conform  to  the  order  of 
mind  growth. 

Other  Principles  Deduced. 

From  the  general  principle  just  stated,  and  from  the 
definition  of  education  given  in  Chapter  I.,  a  few  special 
principles  and  rules  of  education  are  next  deduced. 

I.  All  the  organs  of  the  body  should  be  developed  and 
trained  to  proper  functioning.  The  application  of  this 
principle  would  change  current  athletic  prac-  Physical 
tices,  and  put  physical  education  where  it  Education, 
belongs, —  in  charge  of  a  teacher  trained  for  that  pur- 
pose, and  with  proper  and  sufficient  apparatus  for  his 
use.  Strict  application  of  the  principle  would  also 
rightly  answer  a  question  that  has  not  yet  been  as 
often  raised  or  as  strenuously  pressed  as  it  ought  to  be, 
"  Why  should  not  the  left  hand  be  made  as  service- 
able as  the  right  ?  "  There  is  no  valid  reason  for  not 
training  the  left  hand  to  be  as  efficient  as  the  right : 
man  should  be  ambidextrous. 

II.  All  the  faculties  of  the  mind  should  be  developed 
and  trained.     The  practice  of  this  principle  takes  the 


278 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


emphasis  of  teaching  off  of  memory,  where  it  has  so 

long  been   placed,  and   distributes  it   over   the  whole 

intellectual  series  of  mental  activities.     The  recognition 

Education.  0f  ^ie  necessity  for  an  all-round  development 

is  one  of  the  corner  stones  of  modern  education. 

The  principle  of  use  is  a  most  important  companion 
principle  to  the  one  just  given,  and  may  be  phrased 
thus:  Faculties,  like  muscles,  grow  strong  by  use: 
therefore  do  nothing  for  the  pupil  that  he  can  do  for 
himself.  The  beefsteak  the  teacher  eats  gives  the 
pupil  no  nourishment.  So,  the  problem  solved,  the 
word  parsed,  the  sentence  diagramed,  by  the  teacher, 
gives  the  pupil  no  strength. 

This  principle  does  not  mean,  be  it  carefully  noted, 
that  the  teacher  shall  not  show  the  pupil  Jioxv  to  work, 
but  simply  that  the  pupil  shall  do  his  own  work  when 
he  has  learned  how,  and  that  he  can  best  learn  how 
by  doing  it  himself  under  skillful  and  sympathetic 
direction. 

III.  The  senses  must  be  developed  early,  and  trained 
to  accurate  and  quick  observation  of  worthful  facts. 

Workers  in  the  field  of  science  are  not  the  only  ones 
who  need  the  power  of  ready  and  correct  observation. 
The  essayist,  the  novelist,  the  poet,  the  artist,  who  are 
popularly  supposed  to  be  removed  from  what  are  called 
practical  affairs,  must  be  the  closest  and  most  accurate 
of  observers.  Ruskin's  wonderful  power  of  description, 
and  infallible  discrimination  as  an  art  critic,  were  due 
to  habits  of  minute  observation  of  nature,  formed  in 
his  boyhood. 

IV.  Memory  must  be  developed  by  use  according  tc 
the  laws  of  association  and  the  law  of  interest. 

The  more  interesting  associations  there  are  for  any 


METHODOLOGY.  279 

idea,  the  more  readily  can  it  be  retained  and  recalled. 
Since  the  interest  of  children  is  aroused  mainly  through 
sense  percepts,  and  since  they  most  readily  form  sense 
associations,  as  many  of  the  senses  should  be  called  into 
activity  as  possible  in  teaching  them.  For  example, 
in  reading  and  spelling,  a  word  should  be  seen,  heard, 
uttered,  and  written. 

What?  When?  Where?  are  the  questions  for  culti- 
vating the  ability  to  observe  and  recall. 

V.  Judgment  must  be  developed  and  trained  by  draw- 
ing conclusions  from  observation  and  experience,  and  by 
correlating  and  unifying  objects  of  knowledge. 

Activity  of  judgment  is  manifested  by  children  earlier 
than  we  are  apt  to  suppose.  The  child  of  two  or  three 
years  of  age  begins  to  classify  objects  and  to  search 
for  the  reason  of  things.  Why?  and  Hozv ?  are  the 
questions  for  training  judgment. 

The  teacher  must  be  careful  to  furnish  knowledge- 
material  no  faster  than  it  can  be  assimilated.  The 
mental  digestion  can  become  clogged  as  readily  and 
with  as  serious  results  as  can  the  physical. 

VI.  Imagination  is  to  be  cultivated  through  observa- 
tion, and  by  descriptions  of  places  and  things  that  the 
pupil  has  had  no  opportunity  to  observe. 

These  descriptions  may  be  read  or  told  by  the  teacher 
to  the  pupil,  or  they  may  be  read  by  the  pupil  for 
himself,  or  they  may  be  told  or  written  by  the  pupil. 
No  plan  for  cultivating  the  imagination  is  complete 
that  does  not  include  much  oral  and  written  composi- 
tion, and  much  reading  of  good  literature. 

The  high  function  of  imagination  in  creating  ideals 
of  both  ethical  and  non-ethical  conduct  must  not  be 
lost  sight  of. 


280  PSYCH0L0G  Y  IN  EDUCA  TION. 

VII.  Judgment  and  taste  should  be  trained  early  to 

^Esthetic    recognize  and  appreciate  what   is  beautiful 
Education.  anj  rejined. 

Environments  at  home  and  at  school  are  the  chief 
agencies  in  aesthetic  education :  it  cannot  be  had  from 
books  or  set  lessons. 

Like  all  the  more  spiritual  tastes  and  feelings,  the 
aesthetic  taste  is  best  cultivated  indirectly  rather  than 
by  direct  instruction.  Nature,  art,  and  literature  are 
the  three  influences  that  form  and  refine  the  love 
of  the  beautiful. 

Moral  VIII.    The  ethical  nature  must  be  developed 

Education.  an([  refined  througJi  the  motives. 

Right  doing  is  mainly  a  matter  of  feeling,  not  only 
with  children,  but  with  adults.  One  rarely  does  right 
because  he  knozus  (intellectually)  what  is  right :  he  must 
also  feel  the  necessity  of  right  conduct. 

If  man  always  found  in  rational  conviction  sufficient 
motive  to  both  non-ethical  and  ethical  action,  he  could 
well  dispense  with  a  majority  of  his  feelings.  He  would 
not,  for  instance,  after  reaching  years  of  discretion,  need 
the  physical  appetites  or  feelings  of  physical  comfort 
and  discomfort,  to  compel  him  to  repair  the  waste  of  the 
body  or  to  protect  it  against  accidents.  So  he  would 
need  no  motive  to  ethical  conduct  except  the  decision 
of  judgment  that  certain  acts  are  right.  But  the  sim- 
ple conviction  that  a  thing  is  right  —  which  is  the  high- 
est motive  to  doing  right  —  is  so  ineffective,  that  it 
requires  the  impelling  force  not  only  of  conscience,  but 
of  a  host  of  other  feelings,  to  induce  men  to  follow 
righteousness. 

The  teacher,  the  preacher,  the  lawmaker,  all  who 
would  guide  and  reform  humanity,  are  forced  to  run 


ME  TI  10  DO  LOG  Y.  2  8 1 

the  scale  of  motives  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest. 
Through  the  motives  the  will  is  brought  to  act,  —  to 
inhibit,  to  determine,  to  execute. 

Most  luckily  there  can  be  no  text-book  on  morals,  and 
therefore  moral  education  cannot  easily  become,  in  the 
hands  of  the  teacher,  a  daily  lesson-grind.  The  teacher 
himself,  if  his  life  is  right,  is  the  best  daily  lesson  in 
morals. 

IX.  The  will  must  be  developed  through  interest,  so 
that  it  can  quickly  and  steadily  focus  the  mind  in 
attention. 

The  power  to  attend  is  perhaps  the  highest  intel- 
lectual power,  and  no  effort  should  be  spared  in  culti- 
vating it  in  the  young.  The  effect  of  it,  or  the  lack  of 
it,  is  far-reaching  in  every  sphere  of  human  activity. 
It  is  through  the  power  of  the  will  to  compel  atten- 
tion that  it  becomes  able  also  to  choose,  determine, 
and  execute. 

Development  of  the  will  means  also  the  full  culti- 
vation of  the  motives.  The  teacher  should  choose 
what  motives  he  will  have  dominant  in  school,  and 
early  set  about  to  make  them  dominant.  To  do  this  is 
to  develop  will,  and  to  develop  will  is  to  build  character. 

X.  Thoroughness  is  often  best  secured  by  Thorough- 
indirect  teaching.  ness- 

All  teachers  believe  thoroughness  to  be  essential, 
and  it  is;  but  the  way  most  used  to  secure  it  is  not 
always  the  best.  Repeated  drilling  upon  lessons  until 
the  facts  are  well  fixed  in  memory,  important  as  it  is, 
does  not  secure  true  thoroughness ;  for  to  know  "  by 
heart  "  is  not  necessarily  to  be  thorough. 

To  be  thorough  is  to  understand ;  and  a  pupil  cannot 
understand  a  lesson  or  a  subject  full)-  until  he  has  some 


282  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

knowledge  of  the  next  higher  one.  A  student  cannot 
be  thorough  in  arithmetic,  for  example,  until  he  knows 
something  of  algebra  and  geometry.  The  pupil  should 
be  passed  to  the  next  lesson  or  the  next  higher  subject 
as  soon  as  he  knows  the  facts,  and  understands  the 
principles,  of  the  lower  study  sufficiently  to  enable  him 
to  apply  the ui  in  the  higher. 

This  seems  self-evident,  but  it  is  not  so  treated  in 
practice.  Pupils  are  kept  grinding  over  the  same  grist 
in  order  to  become  "  thorough."  But  they  get  further 
away  from  true  thoroughness  at  each  going-over.  It 
is  better  for  the  pupil  to  go  into  a  new  and  more 
advanced  subject,  even  if  he  finds  it  necessary  to  refer 
frequently  to  the  books  or  lessons  just  laid  aside.  Not 
only  does  he,  in  a  new  subject,  have  both  the  stimulus 
of  new  facts  to  call  forth  greater  mental  activity,  and 
the  helpful  consciousness  of  progress,  but  he  is  also 
forced  to  use  his  partially  acquired  knowledge  of  the 
less  advanced  subject  in  mastering  the  higher.  The 
mind  is  thus  brought  to  a  tension  above  what  is  neces- 
sary for  the  comprehension  of  the  lower  study,  and  so 
more  readily  becomes  thorough  in  it. 

The  teacher  is  losing  time  and  wasting  energy  when 

he  tries  to   produce  thoroughness  by  direct  teaching 

alone.     To  illustrate  :  A  pupil  should  not  be 

Illustrations.  .  . 

kept  on  the  multiplication  table  till  he  can 
say  it  all  without  a  slip,  but  as  soon  as  he  knows  the 
table,  or  a  part  of  it,  fairly  well,  he  should  be  put  to 
work  on  simple  problems  in  the  solution  of  which  mul- 
tiplication is  a  necessary  but  secondary  process.  As 
soon  as  the  pupil  has  some  familiarity  with  geography, 
he  should  have  history  pre9ented'to  him  in  a  way  that 
assumes  his  knowledge  of  geography. 


MET  FfO  DO  I LOG  V. 


283 


As  long  as  the  multiplication  tabic  is  taught  as  an 
end  in  itself,  the  mind  of  the  learner  will  be  keyed  up 
only  to  that  point ;  but  when  a  problem  is  set  that 
involves  multiplication  as  a  subsidiary  process,  the  mind 
becomes  keyed  to  the  more  difficult  work,  and  thus 
thoroughness  is  indirectly  reached  in  the  minor  matter. 
Constant  drilling  in  geography  would  result  in  strong 
aversion  to  that  subject ;  but  if  history  and  general 
reading  be  so  taught  as  to  demand  accuracy  of  geo- 
graphical knowledge  as  a  subsidiary  matter,  the  result 
must  be  true  thoroughness  in  geography. 

In  the  truth  of  this  principle  lies  the  excellence  of  sup- 
plementary reading.  If  the  pupil  is  kept  in  the  second 
reader,  for  example,  until  he  can  read  it  through  without 
miscalling  a  word,  he  is  a  loser  thereby.  If  put  to  work 
in  supplementary  reading  matter,  he  shows  marked  im- 
provement, because  he  now  reads  for  the  thought,  and  the 
mere  calling  of  words  becomes  of  secondary  importance. 

But  after  the  last  word  is  said  in  methodol-    „        t. 

Sympathy 

ogy,  this  truth  remains:  sympathy  is  the  chief    the  chief 
element  in  the  success  of  the  real  teacher. 

He  who  lacks  sympathy  for  the  learner  in  his  efforts, 
in  his  failures,  in  his  successes,  in  his  struggle  for  self- 
mastery,  will  fall  short  of  the  best  teaching.  Old 
teachers  who  have  grown  out  of  memory  of  their  own 
early  difficulties,  teachers  who  teach  ''for  revenue 
only,"  and  those  who  have  blundered  in  their  choice  of 
the  teacher's  profession,  usually  lack  this  element. 

There  is  no  higher  work  than  teaching  ;  and  he  who 
does  not  appreciate  this  truth,  who  does  not  love  to 
see  mind  grow  and  to  help  it  grow  and  know,  has  no 
rightful  place  in  the  ranks  of  those  who  are  consecrat- 
ing the  schools  to  the  cause  of  humanity. 


284 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

METHODS  AND  RECORDS  OF  MIND  STUDY. 

In  Chapter  I.  a  very  brief  mention  was  made  of  some 
methods  of  studying  mind  phenomena.  In  succeed- 
ing chapters  an  attempt  was  made  to  discuss  a  few 
results  of  mind  study  and  their  specific  application  to 
education.  It  is  hoped  that  the  teacher,  and  possibly 
others  whose  work  is  both  with  and  upon  mind,  have 
found  enough  therein  to  quicken  an  interest  in  the 
more  detailed  description  which  this  chapter  presents, 
of  the  observational  method  of  studying  mind,  and 
recording  the  results  for  the  teacher  and  the  sociologist. 

Dr.Hall,  one  of  the  most  earnest  investigators  of  mind 
growth,  suggests  that  the  studies  made  by  physicians, 
classification  anthropologists,    sociologists,    parents,    and 

of  Mind  teachers  in  this  field,  should  be  grouped  under 
(i)  studies  of  psycJwgenesis,  or  mind  begin- 
nings, in  children  up  to  three  or  four  years  of  age;  {2)pai- 
dology,  or  child  science,  a  study  of  the  child  up  to  eleven  or 
thirteen  years  of  age  ;  (3)  cplicbics,  or  the  study  of  youth. 

These  are  rather  high-sounding  names,  but  it  is 
doubtful  whether  anything  of  great  value  has  been 
done  or  will  be  done  under  them  that  has  not  been 
done  in  a  simple  and  very  effective  way  by  sympa- 
thetically observant  teachers  for  a  great  many  years 
past.  A  reading  of  what  has  been  written  latterly  upon 
the  subject   of  mind  study  reveals  a  tendency  to  lay 


METHODS  A\'P  RECORDS  OF  MIND  STUDY.     2S5 

rather  too  much  stress  upon  psycho-physic  investiga- 
tion. The  gathering  and  publishing  of  mere  statistics 
of  weight,  size,  and  other  physical  charac-    „ 

&       '  l      J  Too  much 

teristics,  seem  to  engross  too  much  attention,  stress  on 
Nothing  seems  too  trivial  to  be  made  matter  statIst,cs- 
of  record,  if  it  can  be  measured  or  weighed.  The  zeal 
of  some  of  the  present-day  investigators  carries  them 
to  almost  absurd  extremes.  Judging  by  the  very  sol- 
emn way  in  which  so  many  trifles  are  announced,  it 
would  seem  that  some  men  and  women  had  never 
observed  children  with  any  particularity  or  interest 
until  induced  to  do  so  through  the  fad  for  studying 
psychology  with  a  tapeline. 

Thousands  of  school  children  in  Boston,  St.  Louis, 
Milwaukee,  and  other  cities,  have  been  weighed,  and 
measured  as  to  height,  size  of  chest,  size  of  head,  and 
rate  of  growth.  The  results  have  been  tabulated  with 
statistics  of  age,  sex,  parentage,  occupation  of  parents, 
etc.  From  the  masses  of  facts  thus  accumulated,  but 
few  definite  conclusions  have  been  drawn  ;  in  fact,  as 
might  be  expected,  different  conclusions  have  been 
drawn  from  the  same  data.  Some,  if  not  most,  of 
these  inductions,  can  be  reached  by  sympathetic  and 
observant  teachers,  from  the  daily  appearance,  play, 
conduct,  and  class  work  of  their  pupils,  with- 

...  .  1   •      1       r      1  •       1     N°  special 

out  subjecting  them  to  any  kind  or  physical  Need of Phys- 
mcasurement.     The  chief  value  of  the  cur-  ical  Meas- 

....  urement. 

rent  free  discussion  of  this  subject  lies  in  the 
opportunity  it  affords  for  individual  observers  to  become 
more  conscious  in  their  observations,  to  record  and 
compare  results,  and  thus  to  work  together  toward  the 
production  of  a  body  of  classified  psychological  data 
from  which  inductions  may  be  made  that  will  benefit  all. 


286  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED UCA  TION. 

Some  of  the  conclusions  already  reached,  while 
doubtless  correct  and  to  some  extent  interesting,  seem 
to  have  little  or  no  value  for  the  teacher.  For  exam- 
ple, what  pedagogical  worth  has  the  fact  that  the  chil- 
dren of  manual  laborers  are  lighter  and  shorter,  age  for 
age,  than  those  of  merchants  or  lawyers?  What  use 
can  the  teacher  make  of  the  knowledge  that  American 
children  are  a  trifle  lighter  than  children  of  foreign 
parentage  ?  We  get  very  little  from  the  use  of  the 
scales,  tapeline,  and  calipers,  that  we  do  not  already 
know.  At  least  a  little  observation  will  reveal  it  to 
us  with  an  exactness  sufficiently  close  for  the  practical 
needs  of  the  teacher.  A  teacher  does  not  have  to 
study  medicine  or  anthropometry  to  discover  that  a 
child  is  oversized  or  undersized  for  his  age,  or  that  he 
has  defective  sight  or  hearing.  He  does  not  need 
either  a  physician  or  a  psychologist  to  tell  him  to  put 
a  pupil  of  poor  hearing  closer  to  the  teacher's  desk 
than  those  of  normal  hearing.1  We  know  that  a 
healthy  child  is  active,  vigorous,  and  heavier  than  a 
sickly  child  of  the  same  age,  and  that  as  a  rule  he  can 
learn  better  than  a  child  of  enfeebled  health.  The 
physiological  psychologist  has  discovered  nothing  bet- 
ter than  that  empirical  knowledge. 

But  in  every  new  science  there  must  be  a  long  period 
of  fact  collecting  before  there  can   be   any 

Facts  must  .  . 

be  gathered  trustworthy  announcement  of  new  principles ; 
and  general-  anc]    jn    collecting    facts    there   will    be,    of 

ized. 

course,  much  chaff  gathered  with  the  grain. 

1  The  following  is  quoted  from  an  address  by  a  physician  to  a  body 
of  (presumably)  intelligent  teachers:  "  It  is  particularly  important  that 
the  teacher  should  notice  this  form  of  deafness  [due  to  abnormal 
growth  in  the  back  of  the  nose].  Children  deaf  should  be  placed 
near  the  teacher." 


METHODS  AND  RECORDS  OF  MIND  STUDY.      287 

The  criticism  of  the  last  few  paragraphs  is  not  di- 
rected as  much  against  the  making  and  recording  of 
many  and  various  observations  upon  children  and  adults, 
as  against  the  too  prevalent  practice  of  announcing 
facts  as  valuable  in  themselves,  instead  of  patiently 
generalizing  them  into  helpful  principles.  Darwin  gath- 
ered and  studied  facts  for  some  twenty  years  before 
he  announced  his  development  hypothesis :  the  psycho- 
physic  investigator  is  prone  to  rush  into  print  every 
time  he  finds  a  new  fact,  or  rediscovers  an  old  one. 

It  will  surely  take  some  time  to  work  out  a  usable 
formula  that  shall  involve  the  factors  of  size,  weight, 
rate  of  growth,  age,  sex,  and  nativity.    There  No  Working 
are  so  many  other  factors  of  equal  or  greater    Formula 
importance  that  enter  into  the  practical  solu-     pos 
tion  of  educational  problems,  that  it  may  be  seriously 
questioned  whether  anything  like  a  formula  can  ever  be 
worked  out.     It  does  not  seem  likely  that  we  shall  ever 
be  able  to  say  that  skill  in  mathematics  varies  as  the 
weight  of  the  pupil ;  or  that  aptitude  in  natural  science 
is  directly  as  the  square  of  the  chest  measurement ! 

But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  right  kind  of 
observations  on  children  (psychic  rather  than  psycho- 
physic),  systematically  carried  on  and  care-  Psychic 
fully  recorded,  are  of  great  value  not  only  in  observations 
the  slow  development  of  acceptable  peda- 
gogical laws,  but  also  in  the  immediate  and  everyday 
work  of  the  average  teacher. 

The  teacher  should  be  a  sociologist  also,  and  should 
teach  as  a  sociologist,  as  one  whose  work  is  not  for  the 
individual  alone,  but  for  the  community,  —  for  the  indi- 
vidual as  a  member  of  society.  In  properly  directed  mind 
study  he  will  find  much  that  can  help  him,  not  only  in 


288  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED UCA  TION. 

his  service  for  individual  pupils,  but  in  his  work  for 
them  as  members  of  the  social  organism.  Even  the 
most  absurd  things  that  have  been  done  and  written  in 
the  name  of  "  the  child  "  will  be  justified,  if  no  other  good 
should  result  from  the  greatly  quickened  interest  in  child 
study  that  has  marked  the  last  decade  or  two  than  the 
focusing  of  the  attention  of  laymen,  educators,  and  the 
everyday  teacher,  upon  the  child  as  the  center  of  educa- 
tional theory  and  the  object  of  educational  practice. 

Observations  upon  children  should  be  made  and 
recorded  by  both  parents  and  teachers,  and  may  be 
„.     ._    ..  „  classified  under  the  general  heads  of  abnor- 

Classincation  o 

of  observa-  mal characteristics  and  normal  characteristics. 
Under  abnormal characteristics  may  be  placed 
observations  of  (i)  overgrowth  or  undergrowth,  with  or 
without  specific  disease  ;  (2)  defective  sense  equipment 
(defective  sight,  hearing,  etc.) ;  (3)  precocity  or  unusual 
dullness  of  all  or  of  any  one  of  the  mental  activities. 
.Under  normal  characteristics  should  be  placed  observa- 
tions upon  the  natural,  healthy  growth  of  the  different 
bodily  and  mental  organs  and  faculties. 

Observations  upon  the  irregular  or  defective  bodily 
growth,  or  upon  any  abnormal  physical  condition  of 
children,  can  of  course  be  made  accurately  only  by  a 
physician.  In  some  of  the  large  cities  of  both  Europe 
and  America,  physicians  are  employed  whose  business 
it  is  to  make  examinations  and  tests  at  stated  inter- 
vals upon  the  physical  condition  of  the  school  chil- 
dren. The  best  that  can  be  done  in  that  direction 
by  the  average  teacher,  is  to  be  alert  to  discover  symp- 
toms of  defective  sense  perception  or  of  disease,  and 
immediately  to  call  the  attention  of  the  parents  to  any 
aberrancy.      Some  suggestions  as  to  simple   tests   for 


METHODS  AND  RECORDS  OF  MIND  STUDY.     289 

defects  of  the  sensorium  have  been  made  in  previous 
chapters,  and  doubtless  enough  has  been  said  to  enable 
the  teacher  to  plan  other  exercises  and  tests  suited  to 
the  needs  of  individual  cases  with  which  he  may  have 
to  deal. 

Teachers  will  find  more  that  is  valuable  and  helpful 
in  observations  made  upon  normal  cases  of  develop- 
ment than  upon  abnormal  ones.     If  normal 
tvpes    be    studied   as    they   should   be,   any  _ Normal 

J  tr  J  J     Types  more 

deviations  therefrom  will  become  sufficiently    important 
evident.     As  Rooper  says,  "  It  is  the  normal   Abn^mai. 
action  of  child  mind  that  is  being  studied, 
and  not  the  abnormal  and  remarkable.     The  abnormal 
should  only  be  recorded  as  throwing  light  on  the  nor- 
mal, and  should  be  distinctly  noted  as  abnormal." 

The  study  of  children  should  begin  in  the  home,  and 
almost  at  the  hour  of  birth.     Mothers  have  the  richest 
opportunities  for  observation  and  record  of  0bservation«- 
the  growth  of  body  and  mind  in  children.       in  the 
If    they   would    everywhere    systematically 
undertake  this  work,  much  could  be  done  in  accumu- 
lating facts  that  would  have  the  highest  value  for  both 
the  sociologist  and  the  teacher. 

Some  excellent  books  have  been  issued,  setting  forth 
the  results  obtained  by  careful  observation  made  upon 
infants.  Much  of  value  can  also  be  had  by  careful 
gleaning  from  the  mass  of  current  literature  on  the 
subject  of  child  study,  albeit  a  great  deal  of  this  is  of 
questionable  worth  to  the  teacher.1 

1  The  reader  is  referred  to  the  following,  given  as  illustrative  of 
the  literature  on  the  subject  of  psychic  and  psycho-physic  investi- 
gation: — 

Wundt's  Lectures  on  Human  and  Animal  Psychology.     (New  York, 
Macmillan  &*  Co.) 

Roark  Psych. —  io. 


290 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


Observation  and  Record  Forms. 

The  following  forms  are  intended  to  be  suggestive, 
and  to  indicate  the  manner  of  recording  and  preserv- 
ing observations  made  upon  children  of  different  ages. 
I  want  again  in  this  connection  to  lay  stress  upon  the 
fact  that  mere  statistics  are  of  little  or  no  value  :  it  is 
what  can  be  drawn  from  them  that  is  to  profit  the  stu- 
dent of  mind  phenomena  ;  and,  in  order  to  have  any 
worth  for  this  purpose,  they  should  be  recorded  as  the 
observations  are  made,  and  with  the  exactness  of  the 
investigator  who  is  searching  for  truth  in  the  facts, 
and  not  for  facts  to  support  a  preconceived  theory. 

The  first  form  is  given  partly  filled  out,  the  more 
plainly  to  indicate  to  those  unfamiliar  with  the  work 
the  manner  of  making  such  records. 

Warner's  Lectures  on  the  Growth  and  Means  of  Training  the  Mental 

Faculties.     (Maonillan.) 
Cattell's  Course  in  Experimental  Psychology.     (Macmillan.) 
Baldwin's  Mental  Development  in  the  Child  and  the  Race.     (Mac- 

millan.) 
Tracy's  Psychology  of  Childhood.     (Boston,  Heath  or5  Co.) 
Perez'  First  Three  Years  of   Childhood.     (Syracuse,  N.  Y.,   C.   IV. 

Bard  cm.) 
Preyer's  The  Mind  of  the  Child.     (New  York,  D.  Apphton  &>  Co.) 
Transactions    of   the    Illinois    Society   for   Child    Study.      (Chicago, 

Werner  Co.) 
Shinn's  Notes  on  the    Development   of  a  Child.      (Berkeley,   Cal., 

University  of  California  Series.) 
Peckham's  Growth  of  Children.     (In   Report  of  Wisconsin  Board  of 

Health,  18S1.) 
The  Report  on    Experimental    Psychology  in    Education.     (In    the 

Proceedings  of  the  International  Congress  of  Education,  held  at 

Chicago  in  1893.) 
The  Psychological  Review,  New  York. 
The  Pedagogical  Seminary,  Worcester,  Mass. 
The  American  Journal  of  Psychology,  Worcester,  Mass. 
Studies  from  the  Yale  Psychological  Laboratory,  New  Haven,  Conn. 


METHODS  AND  RECORDS  OF  MIND  STUDY.     29I 

FORM  I. 

For  the  First  Four   Years  of  Childhood. 

(Fsychogenetic.) 

Observations  made  and  recorded  by  Jirs.    ^no.  Brand. 

Observations  made  upon  ^ames  Brand. 

Date  of  birth,  J-an.  74,  7897.  Sex,  Male*.  Parentage, 
<&€merican.  Father's  occupation,  jilerchant.  Locality  (city, 
village,    country),    "Village. 

(If  there  is  any  abnormality,  note  it  under  the  proper  head.) 

A.  Sense  Perception. 
I.  Sight. 

1.  First  discrimination  of  light  and  darkness,  ^fan.  25, 

at  72  days.  Jndicated  by  frowning  and 
blinking  at  light ;  and  fretting  at  tlve  dark. 

2.  First  following  of  an  object  with  the  eyes,  $eb.  4. 

at  22  days.  indicated  hy  turning  tJie 
eyes  sidewise  and  up  and  down  to  fcttoiv 
a  moving  lamp. 

3.  First  selection  of  colors,  March  78,  at  2  mos.  77 

days,  indicated  by  ga,ze  being  most  at- 
tracted by  a  yellow  scarf  among  several 
of  different  colors. 

4.  First  selection  of  objects  by  sight  alone,  cMay  6. 

at  4  months.  indicated  by  volitional 
efforts  toward  a  watch  among  several  ob- 
jects held  near  him.  (Shis  needs  further 
testing?) 


2Q2  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

5.  First  recognition  of  persons  by  sight  alone,  ^une> 
70,  at  5  mos.  1  days,  indicated  hy  turn- 
ing to  his  motJi&r  from  a  stranger  who  was 

holding  him. 

Remarks. 

II.   Hearing. 

1.  First  evidence  of  sensitiveness  to  sound. 

2.  First  attempt  to  locate  sound. 

3.  First  discrimination  between  harmonious  and  unhar- 

monious  sounds. 

4.  First  evidence  of  enjoyment  of  sound  made  by  him- 

self. 

5.  First  recognition  of  repeated  sound. 

Remarks. 

III.  Tasting. 

1.  First  evidence  of  distaste. 

2.  First  discrimination  or  preference  in  taste. 

3.  First  recognition  of  repeated  taste. 

Remarks. 

IV.  Smelling. 

1.  First  evidence  of  sense  of  smell. 

2.  First  discrimination  or  preference  of  odors. 

3.  First  reference  of  odor  to  its  cause. 

4.  First  recognition  of  repeated  odor. 

Remarks. 

V.    Touch. 

1.  First  evidence  of  preference  by  touch. 

2.  First  evidence  of  recognition  through  sense  of  touch. 

3.  First  evidence  of  being  aware  of  his  own  hands  or 

body  as  his  own. 

Remarks. 

VI.    Temperature  sense. 

1.  First  evidence  of  pleasure  or  pain  from  temperature. 

2.  First  reference  of  warmth  or  cold  to  its  cause. 

Remarks. 


METHODS  AND  RECORDS  Of  MIND  SI  UDY.      293 

VII.    Muscular  sense. 

1.  First  evidence  of  ability  or  desire  to   put  hand  to 

mouth  deliberately. 

2.  First  grasping  of  objects  and  carrying  them  to  the 

mouth. 

3.  First  apparent  consciousness  of  muscular  power. 

Remarks. 

B.  The  Feelings. 

1.  First  crying  that  is  not  reflex. 

2.  First  smiling  or  laughing  that  is  not  reflex. 

3.  First  evidence  of  pleasure. 

4.  First  evidence  of  surprise. 

5.  First  evidence  of  fear,  and  its  cause. 

6.  First  evidence  of  imitativeness. 

7.  First  evidence  of  aesthetic  taste. 

8.  First  evidence  of  conscience. 

9.  First  feelings  regarding  Deity  or  the  hereafter. 

10.  First  evidence  of  pity  or  sympathy. 

11.  First  evidence  of  affection. 

12.  First  forms  of  expression  of  feelings, —  by  facial  movements, 

by  gestures,  by  sounds. 

Remarks. 

C.  The  Intellect. 

1.  First  evidence  of  memory,  in  recognition. 

2.  First  evidence  of  selective  judgment. 

3.  First  evidence  of  intuition  of  cause. 

4.  First  evidence  of  intuition  of  self  as  different  from  external 

objects. 

5.  First  judgment  of  right  and  wrong.     (Discriminate  carefully 

between  cases  in  which  the  child  was  told  and  cases  in 
which  he  seemed  to  form  original  judgments.) 

6.  First  attempt  at  expression,  in  any  form. 

7.  First  attempt  at  talking. 

8.  First  use  of  personal  pronouns. 

9.  First  consciousness  of   any  difference   between   boys  and 

girls. 

10.  First  manifestation  of  distinctively  boyish  or  girlish  traits. 

Remarks. 


294 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


D.  Imagination. 

i.  First  evidence  of  imagination. 

2.  First  evidence  of  the  child's  endowing  inanimate  objects 

with  personality. 

3.  What  kind  of  stories  does  the  child  prefer  ? 

4.  What  are  the  child's  ideas  of  God  ?     Of  heaven  ? 

Remarks. 

E.  The  Will. 

1.  First  evidence  of  will  to  do  some  thing. 

2.  First  evidence  of  will  as  inhibitive  (in  self-control). 

3.  First  evidence  of  will  in  ethical  action. 

Remarks. 

This  form  is  intended  for  popular  rather  than  for 
expert  use,  and  it  is  not  expected  that  much  deliberate 
experimentation  will  be  done,  though  some  would  prove 
very  interesting  and  helpful  to  even  the  non-expert. 

In  the  "remarks"  most  careful  note  should  be  made 
of  any  hereditary  peculiarities.  Points  under  this  would 
have  especial  value  in  aiding  the  solution  of  the  prob- 
lem whether  peculiarities  of  any  kind  acquired  by  the 
parents  can  be  transmitted  to  the  children.  Under 
"parentage,"  "father's  occupation,"  and  "locality"  the 
social  and  industrial  environment  of  the  child  should 
be  fully  stated.  It  should  be  noted  whether  the  town 
is  a  mining,  or  manufacturing,  or  purely  commercial 
town:  whether  the  country  is  fertile  or  poor,  and  what 
the  chief  agricultural  interest  is,  etc.  If  the  mother 
also  is  engaged  in  money  earning,  either  in  the  home 
or  out  of  it,  that  fact  should  be  noted.  All  these  are 
the  factors  which,  as  has  been  said  before,  make  it 
extremely  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  reach,  from 
such  data,  any  widely  applicable  generalization  that 
will  have  the  force  of  law. 


METHODS  AND  RECORDS  OF  MIND  STUDY. 


295 


FORM   II. 

For  Children  from  the  Fourth  to  the  Thirteenth  Year. 
1  Paidological.) 

Observations  made  and  recorded  by 

Observations  made  upon 

Age Sex Parentage Father's  occupa- 
tion         Locality  (city,  village,  or  country) 

What  sort  of  school  (public  or  private)  are  the  observations  made 
in?     

What   sort  of  a  school   (public   or    private)  has   the   pupil   been 
attending?       

A.  Physical  Condition,  —  normal,  or  abnormal? 

If  abnormal,  in  what  way  ? 

B.  Psychic  Activities. 

I.    Observation. 

r.  Are  all  the  senses  alert?     Quick,  or  slow? 

2.  How  many  objects  can  be  seen  at  one  glance? 

3.  What  sense  is  most  acute?     Why? 

4.  What  sense  is  least  acute?     Why? 

5.  What  objects  of  each  sense  are  most  preferred  ?  Why? 

(1)  Sight. 

(2)  Hearing,  etc. 

6.  What  kind  of  knowledge  does  the  child  have  most 

of  on  entering  school  ? 
1 1 .    Memory. 

1.  What  sense  images  are  best  retained  and  recalled  ? 

2.  What  proportion  does  retention  bear  to  acquisition? 

(Does  the  child  memorize  quickly  and  forget  quickly, 
or  memorize  slowly  and  retain  well  ?) 

3.  Is  the  verbal,  or  the  logical,  memory  stronger? 

4.  In  either  case,  what  class  of  facts  is  best  memorized 

and  retained  ? 

5.  In  what  way  is  association  most  effectively  done  ?  (By 

resemblance,  or  cause,  or  contiguity,  etc.) 

6.  Does  memory  recall  quickly  ? 
III.  Judgment. 

1.  Is  detection  of  resemblances  quick  and  accurate? 

2.  Is  discrimination  quick,  or  slow  ?   Are  true  differences 

noted? 


2 96  PS  YCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED UCA  TION. 

3.  Is   mathematical,  or   scientific,  or  ethical   judgment 

most  prompt  and  reliable?  (Does  the  pupil  per- 
ceive mathematical  relations  most  readily,  or  classi- 
fications of  natural  objects,  or  why  certain  acts  are 
right  or  wrong  ?) 

4.  What  are  the  things  considered  wrong,  and  why? 

5.  Is  the  child  prone  to  study  a  thing  out  for  himself,  or 

does  he  rely  on  being  told? 

6.  About  what  are  questions  most  asked  ? 

7.  Is  the  child  disposed  to  act  independently  on  his  own 

conclusions? 
IV.  Imagination. 

1.  In  what  direction  is  the  imagination  most  active  ? 

2.  Does  the  child  think  most  in  images,  or  in  words? 

3.  What  does  he  prefer  to  draw? 

4.  Is  he  able  to  make  a  vivid  mental  picture,  from  the 

description  given  him,  of  some  place,  person,  or 
thing? 

5.  Is  he  inclined  to  exaggeration  in  descriptions  ?     If  so, 

what  additions  are  made  to  the  facts  ? 

6.  In  what  sort  of  scenes  or  activities  does  he  usually 

picture  himself? 
7    What  sort  of  stories  does  he  prefer  to  read  or  hear? 

8.  Is  the  child  inclined  to  reverie,  or  is  imagination  crea- 

tive?    (Does  he  make  up  good  stories,  work  out 
his  ideas  by  drawings  or  models,  etc.  ?) 
V.    The  Feelings. 

1.  What  most  readily  arouses  admiration? 

2.  What  most  readily  excites  shame? 

3.  Is  ambition  strong? 

4.  Is  there  jealousy  or  envy  ? 

5.  How  is  aesthetic  feeling  manifested  ? 

6.  Is  there  a  strong  sense  of  humor?     What  excites  it 

most  ? 

7.  Is  the  child  sensitive?     In  what  way  ? 

8.  Is  he  cowardly,  or  brave, —  physically,  morally  ? 

9.  Is  he  cruel  to  young  companions  or  to  animals? 

10.  In  what  form  is  patriotism  manifested  ? 

11.  Is  the  temper  quick,  or  slow  ?     Is   anger  soon  over, 

or  does  the  child  "  nurse  "  his  anger? 

12.  Is  the  child   sullen  or  subdued,  obstinate  or  repent- 

ant, under  punishment  ? 


METHODS  AND  RECORDS  OF  MIND  STUDY. 


297 


13.  What  is  the  strongest  motive? 

14.  What  form  of  punishment  is  most  effective  ? 

15.  Is  conscience  active  ? 

16.  What  motives  lead  most  to  deception  or  lying  ? 
VI.    The  Will. 

1.  Is  the  child  obstinate  ? 

2.  Is  he  perverse  — inclined  to  do  things  he  is  told  not 

to  do  — for  no  other  apparent  reason  than  that  the 
command  is  given  ? 

3.  Is  there  perseverance  in  what  has  been  undertaken  ? 

4.  Does  the   will   inhibit  readily, —  is  there  good   self- 

control  ? 

5.  What  is  his  power  of  voluntary  attention  ? 

6.  Does  he  readily  influence  his  companions? 
VII.   Expression. 

1.  Are  ne*v  words  and  forms  of  speech  readily  learned 

and  correctly  used  ? 

2.  Is  utterance  quick,  or  slow? 

•}.   Do  live  facial  expressions  and  gestures  accompany 
speech  ? 

4.  Is  spoken,  or  written,  expression  the  more  correct  and 

ready  ? 

5.  Is  there  any  evidence  of  manual  dexterity?     If  so,  in 

what  direction  ? 

6.  Does  the  child  draw?     Naturally,  or  as  the  result  of 

teaching? 

Briefer  Forms. 

The  forms  just  given  are  intended,  as  they  show,  for 
rather  detailed  work,  which  may  serve  to  aid  in  the 
discovery  of  general  laws  or  principles,  as  well  as  to 
produce  immediate  results.  It  is  advisable,  in  most 
instances,  to  select  types  of  children  differing  in  age, 
parentage,  sex,  etc.,  and  make  these  detailed  observa- 
tions only  upon  them.  The  results  will  be  fully  as 
satisfactory  and  as  useful  for  purposes  of  generalization 
as  if  every  child  should  be  put  on  record,  and  the  work 
can  be  more  quickly  done. 


298 


PSYCHO  LOG  Y  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


A  little  has  been  done  toward  making  similar  but 
briefer  observations  and  records  serve  as  a  means  of 
watching  and  guiding  the  growth  of  children  in  school, 
and  as  the  basis  of  promotion  through  the  classes  and 
grades.  A  very  simple  form,  slightly  changed  from 
the  one  used  in  the  schools  of  Bellevue,  Ky.,  will  serve 
as  an  example. 

Name Age 

Grade Health 

Temperament Parentage 

Recorded  by 


1.  Observation 

2.  Memory,  Verbal 

3.  Memory,  Logical 

4.  Imagination 

5.  Quickness  of  Conception  ___ 

6.  Originality - 

7.  Sense  of  Right 

8.  Self-Control 

9.  Influence  on  others _ 

10.  Language 

11.  Subject  of  Greatest  Interest 

12.  Subject  of  Least  Interest. 

13.  Greatest  Mental  Deficiency 

14.  Greatest  Physical  Deficiency 

15.  Leading  Feeling  through  which  to  govern 


Date.     Date.     Date.     Date.     Date. 


Rkmarks.  —  i.  Grade  pupils,  Excellent,  Medium,  Poor;  or  Excel- 
lent, Medium.  Weak;  or  Strong,  Medium,  Weak,  as  the  appropriate 
topic  may  require. 

2.  Objects:  Differentiation;  individual  work.  Note  the  charac- 
teristics of  pupils,  and  plan  for  the  rounded  development  of  the 
individual. 


METHODS  AND  RECORDS  OF  MIND  STUDY.     299 

An  even  simpler  record  was  used  in  the  Platteville, 
Wis.,  State  Normal  School.  The  following  illustra- 
tions, records  of  three  different  pupils,  are  quoted  from 
an  article  on  "  Child  Study,"  by  Miss  Mary  E.  Laing, 
in  the  "  Forum  "of  May,  1894:  — 

Oct.  1. —  Age,  8  years;  good  mind;  sensitive,  reticent,  sometimes 
covers  this  with  an  air  of  bravado;  a  careless  worker.  Jan.  17. — 
Improved  habits  in  work,  in  conduct,  and  in  thought;  realizing  his 
possibilities  rapidly.  Mar.  iS. —  Has  been  doing  good,  even  work; 
much  interested  in  natural  science.  May  24. —  Not  working  up  to 
the  level  of  his  power;  careless  about  form;  all  hand  work  poorly 
done;  frequent  lapses  in  attention;  a  child  who  lives  in  a  world  of 
his  own. 

Oct.  12. —  Age,  10;  dreamy  and  absent-minded;  a  good  thinker 
when  aroused  ;  he  has  never  done  his  best  ;  does  not  know  what  real 
work  is.  Jan  15. —  Excellent  improvement;  more  at  one  with  his 
class;  less  absent-minded  and  listless;  a  child  with  a  good  mind, 
but  with  irregular  mental  habits  ;  inclined  to  jump  at  conclusions. 
Mar.  22. —  He  has  made  little  gain  during  the  last  quarter  ;  he  is  still 
inclined  to  inattention  and  listlessness.  May  24. —  Work  still  uneven, 
though  much  improved  ;  he  observes  well,  reasons  well  ;  better 
habits  of  attention  ;  improved  bearing. 

Oct.  20. —  Age,  15  years.  Good  natural  ability,  with  good  general 
knowledge  ;  an  observing  mind  ;  thoughtless  in  manner  ;  always 
truthful.  Jan.  25. —  Has  improved  in  work,  but  not  in  self-control  ; 
inclined  to  try  for  leadership  among  his  boy  companions.  Mar.  24. — 
No  moral  growth;  inclined  to  think  too  well  of  himself;  marked 
symptoms  of  forwardness  and  conceit. 

It  is  easy  to  see  the  direct  benefit  to  the  individual 
pupil  of  such  records,  but  there  is  even  greater  benefil 
to  the  teacher.  Miss  Laing  says,  "  Everything,  then, 
that  helps  the  young  teacher  to  become  a  practical 
daily  student  of  child  nature,  is  for  him  the  best  pos- 
sible training  in  the  science  and  art  of  education." 
Principal  Russell  of  Worcester,  Mass.,  who  devised  a 
similar  plan  of  observation  and  record,  also  says,  '"The 
practice  of  child  stud)'  is  directly  for  the  sake  of  the 


300 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


teacher,  indirectly  for  the  sake  of  the  child,  and  inci- 
dentally  for  the  sake  of  science."  Of  course,  any  benefit 
the  teacher  derives  from  such  work  must  eventually 
reach  the  child  also. 

Children  should  be  observed  under  as  many  circum- 
stances as  possible,  —  studying,  reciting,  working,  play- 
ing, etc.  Anything  is  of  value  that  helps  to  show  how 
the  mind  is  quickened  into  activity,  the  order  of  devel- 
opment of  his  faculties,  and  the  ways  in  which  mental 
activity  is  manifested. 

Unclassified  Items  of  Observation. 

Besides  the  items  indicated  in  the  preceding  forms, 
there  are  various  others,  not  readily  classifiable,  which 
it  is  profitable  to  note.  Some  of  these  are  suggested 
under  the  following  heads:  — 

I.  Docs  a  pupil  do  better  work  tinder  individual  teach- 
ing, or  in  a  class  with  his  fellows  ? 

Not  a  little  is  being  said  regarding  the  necessity  of 
individual  teaching.  The  experiment  of  abolishing 
class  work  as  such,  and  of  letting  each  pupil  advance 
as  rapidly  as  his  individual  effort,  directed  by  the 
teacher,  would  permit,  has  been  tried  to  some  extent ; 
but  much  more  general  experimentation  is  needed  to 
establish  a  principle  or  a  practice  in  this  matter.  If  a 
teacher  does  not  feel  justified  in  trying  it  with  the 
whole  school,  there  are  often  several  pupils  of  irregular 
advancement  with  whom  the  plan  of  purely  individual 
teaching  might  be  properly  undertaken.  A  right  an- 
swer to  this  question  will  be  a  solution  of  the  problem 
that  faces  every  city  teacher  and  the  majority  of  country 
teachers ;  viz.,  "  How  can  the  brightest  pupils  in  a  grade 
or  class  be  kept  profitably  busy,  without  overworking 
or  discouraging  the  duller  ones?" 


METHODS  AND  RECORDS  OF  MIND  STUDY.     301 

II.  Hoiv  may  the  rhythm  in  the  work  and  conduct  of 
the  individual,  class,  and  school,  be  accounted  for  ? 

Most  teachers  have  observed  that  there  is  an  alterna- 
tion of  good  and  bad  work,  good  and  bad  behavior,  in 
the  individual  pupils,  in  classes,  and  even  in  the  whole 
school.  One  day  or  one  week  excellent  work  is  done, 
excellent  behavior  is  the  rule ;  the  next  day  or  the  next 
week  there  seems  to  be  a  general  "letting  down,"  work 
is  poor,  and  conduct  is  abominable.  So  far  as  the  mat- 
ter has  been  studied,  the  explanation  seems  to  be  that 
this  rhythm  is  due  to  more  or  less  regularly  periodic 
fluctuations  in  the  power  of  attention.  But  this  merely 
shifts  the  question,  and  does  not  answer  it.  More 
knowledge  is  needed  to  determine  how  far  such  rhythm 
is  psychical  or  physical,  to  what  extent  it  is  due  to 
weather  changes,  how  much  of  it  is  due  to  the  element 
in  human  nature  which  induces  one  to  be  lax  and  self- 
indulgent  after  a  successful  effort  in  any  direction. 

III.  Is  it  better  that  the  sexes  at  the  period  of  adoles- 
cence should  be  educated  in  separate  schools? 

Can  girls  and  boys  at  this  period  do  their  best  work 
in  the  same  classes?  Should  there  be  any  change  in 
the  quantity  or  quality  of  work  demanded  of  them  at 
this  stage  of  life  ?  Is  the  mind  more,  or  less,  active  than 
at  other  periods? 

IV.  If  the  boys  and  girls  are  taught  together,  what 
difference,  if  any,  is  observable  in  the  quality  of  their 
work  t 

Is  there  a  difference  in  preference  for  certain  studies? 
Is  there  a  difference  in  conscientiousness  about  work? 
Are  boys,  or  girls,  more  exact  ?  What  differences  are 
there  in  the  ambitions  and  trend  of  ideals  of  the  two 
sexes?     In  short,  every  point  should  be  noticed  that  is 


302  PSYCHOLOG  Y  IN  ED  UCA  TION. 

likely  to  throw  any  light  on  the  psychology  of  sex.  If 
answers  can  be  found  to  questions  III.  and  IV.,  they 
will  have  a  profound  sociological  as  well  as  pedagogical 
interest  and  value. 

No  sound  objection  can  be  offered  to  the  co-education 
of  both  sexes  in  childhood ;  little,  if  any,  can  be  offered 
against  their  co-education  as  adults,  in  the  college  and 
university;  but  the  question  has  not  yet  been  conclu- 
sively answered,  whether  there  should  be  full  co-educa- 
tion all  the  way  from  the  primary  to  the  university. 

Then,  too,  another  question  arises  in  this  connection  ; 
and  that  is,  "  What  difference  in  the  method  or  sub- 
stance of  education  should  be  made,  in  view  of  the 
different  duties  which  men  and  women  must  neces- 
sarily render  to  society  ?  "  This  question  has  hardly 
been  asked  yet,  and  no  decided  steps  have  anywhere 
been  taken,  so  far,  toward  a  solution  of  the  problem. 

V.  In  what  ways  can  the  time  daily  spent  in  school  be 
reduced,  to  the  pupils'  advantage  ? 

Another  question  in  this  connection  awaits  an  an- 
swer; and  that  is,  "Are  not  yearly  vacations  too  long?" 
Every  teacher  knows  that  even  a  short  vacation  gets 
the  pupils  out  of  working  harness,  and  some  time  is 
needed  at  the  opening  of  school  to  get  them  into 
habits  of  study.  Could  not  some  work  be  assigned  so 
interesting  that  it  would  be  done  during  vacation,  and 
thus  keep  the  mind  interestedly  active?  This  could 
certainly  be  done  if  there  were  the  connection  there 
ought  to  be  between  school  work  and  the  pupil's  nor- 
mal life.  It  is  believed  that  colleges  could,  under  a 
more  compact  organization  and  with  better  teaching 
methods,  do  more  and  better  work  in  three  years  than 
they  now  do  in  four. 


methods  and  records  of  mind  study.    303 

Record  of  Methods. 

There  is  probably  no  grade  of  school  in  which  the 
teacher  would  not  find  it  an  excellent  plan  to  keep 
records  —  made  at  regular  intervals,  as  often  as  con- 
venient—  of  the  special  methods  by  which  he  made 
various  difficult  points  clear  in  different  branches,  by 
which  he  succeeded  in  arousing  the  interest  of  a  dull  or 
indifferent  student,  by  which  he  reached  an  obtuse 
moral  nature.  These  records  should  show  the  practical 
results  of  the  more  detailed  series  of  observations;  and 
by  correlating  and  preserving  both  together,  and  add- 
ing to  them,  the  teacher  can  make  for  himself  a  most 
valuable  pedagogy.  It  is  very  true,  of  course,  that 
making  such  observations  and  records  will  take  patience 
and  perseverance,  but  no  more  than  does  the  current 
system  of  grading. 

Mind  Study  vs.  Grades  and  Examinations. 

It  is  believed  that  the  use  of  observations  and  records 
in  mind  study  in  school  work,  both  for  securing  a  ra- 
tional basis  for  true  methods  of  management  and  teach- 
ing and  for  determining  the  promotion  of  pupils,  is 
much  to  be  preferred  to  any  system  of  set  examina- 
tions, and  of  recording  examination  results  in  figures ; 
for,  although  there  is  an  air  of  mathematical  certainty 
about  a  grade  in  figures,  yet  it  is  plain  that  the  "  personal 
equation  "  of  the  teacher  or  examiner  must  enter  into 
every  estimate,  and  therefore  into  every  grade,  he  makes. 
There  can  be  no  greater  error  on  account  of  the  "per- 
sonal equation,"  then,  in  a  system  of  marking  and  pro- 
motion by  careful  observations  upon  the  activity  and 
growth  of  the  mental  powers,  than  there  is  in  the  preva- 


3Q4 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


lent  system  of  "per  cents."  Then,  too,  even  the  best 
system  of  daily  marking  or  of  examining  makes  but 
little  discrimination  between  what  may  be  called  growth 
values  of  the  different  mental  powers ;  or  at  least  it 
almost  necessarily  puts  the  greatest  stress  on  the 
memory,  where  it  certainly  does  not  belong. 

It  is  good  that  the  day  has  come  when  it  is  at  least 
as  interesting  to  study  the  child  —  the  growing  mind 
—  as  it  is  to  study  geological  strata,  or  chemical  reac- 
tions, or  the  movements  of  the  stars.  It  is  the  child 
that  is  taught,  not  the  subject:  the  pupil  is  of  more 
value  than  many  text-books.  Surely  we  are  getting 
closer  to  fundamentals  when  we  study  that  which 
knows,  and  how  it  knows,  as  carefully  as  we  study  that 
which  is  to  be  known. 


INDEX. 


Abstract  concepts,  161. 
Abstraction,  159. 
Accuracy,  64. 
Acquisition,  43,  155,  156,  270. 

active  in  children,  184. 

corresponds  to  instructing,  255. 

cultivation  of,  1S0. 

is  analytic,  271. 
Acquisitional     studies,     181-1SS, 
254.  258. 

relative  time  to  give  to,  260. 
Acquisitive    powers,   relative   ac- 
tivity of,  253. 
Admiration,  121. 
./Esthetic  education,  280. 
Esthetic  feeling,  126. 
^Esthetic  judgment,  103. 
^Esthetic  taste,  103. 
^Esthetic  training,  126. 
Affections,  nS,  134. 

benevolent,  134. 

malevolent,  137. 
Afferent  nerves,  23. 
Afferent  stream  a  mental  stream, 

Alternation  of  feelings,  145. 
Ambidexterity,  277. 
Ambition,  143. 
Analytic  method,  271. 
Analytico-synthetic  method,  273. 
Anger,  137. 
Animals,  mind  of,  45. 
Anxiety,  120. 
Aphasia,  30. 

Apperception,  163,  164,  191,  273. 
Applications  of  psychology  to  for- 
mal education,  244. 
Applications  to  teaching: 

consciousness,  43. 

habits,  61. 

Roark  Psych. —  20. 


Applications  to  teaching: 

imagining,  210. 

judgment,  106. 

memory,  93. 

physical  basis,  30. 

willing,  222. 
Argument,  98,  100. 
Arithmetic,    in    cultivating   judg 
ment,  202. 

method  in,  274. 
Arrangement  of  studies,  258. 

chronological,  259. 

concurrent,  260. 
Assimilation,  43,  155,191, 206, 270. 

corresponds  to  developing,  255. 

in  teaching,  210. 

is  synthetic,  272. 
Assimilational  studies,  254,    256, 
258. 

relative  time  to  give  to,  260. 
Assimilative  powers,  relative  ac- 
tivity of,  253. 
Association,  laws  of,  87. 
Attention,  cultivation  of,  51. 

denned,  47. 

expectant,  52. 

involuntary,  4S. 

to  more  than  one  object,  50. 

voluntary,  47. 
Awe,  130. 

Belief,  105. 

Biography  and  imagination,  215. 

Body,  affected  by  mind,  29. 

compared  with  mind,  34,  229. 

independent  of  mind,  35. 
Brain  and  intelligence,  30. 
Brain  localization,  29. 
Brain  rest  and  mental  action,  32. 
Brain  waste  and  mental  action,  29. 
305 


3o6 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCATION. 


Cerebro-spinal  system,  23. 

compared    to   telegraphic    sys- 
tem, 24. 
Character,  and  environment,  215, 
226. 

and  imagination,  215. 

is  habit,  66. 
Cheating  in  class,  234. 
Cheerfulness,  119,  120. 
Children,  imagination  in,  211. 

nervousness  of,  32. 
Children's  toys,  211. 
Child's    knowledge    on    entering 

school,  259. 
Chronological   order  of   studies, 

259- 
Civics,  and  patriotism,  136. 

in  cultivating  judgment,  203. 

methods  in,  269. 
Classification,  164. 

of  emotions,  119. 

of  mental  activities,  42. 

of  mental  phenomena,  16-20. 

of  psychic  observations,  288. 
Classified  knowledge  alone  valu- 
able, 92. 
Classroom  method  in  psychology, 

12. 

Cleanliness,  62. 

Clearness  of  concepts,  168. 

Coeducation,  301. 

College,  formal  education  in,  255, 

256,  25S. 
Common  sense,  101. 
Community  has   a  right   to   edu- 
cate, 246,  248. 
Comparative  psychology,  10. 
Comparison,  159. 
Composition,  an  expressional  ex- 
ercise, 238. 
Comprehension  of  concepts,  168. 
Concentration,  260. 

an  aid  to  memory,  262. 

in  the  text-book,  263. 
Conception,  159. 

first  step  in  assimilation,  im. 

is  synthetic,  272. 
Concepts,  abstract,  161. 

clearness  of,  [68. 

concrete,  160. 

ili^tiuctness  of,  168. 


Concepts,  formed  from  one  per- 
cept, 162. 

in  comprehension,  168. 

in  extension,  168. 

individual,  163. 

properties  of,  168. 

steps  in  forming,  160. 
Concrete  concepts,  160. 
Concurrent  arrangement  of  stud- 
ies, 260. 
Conditions  of  mental  activity,  46. 
Connotation,  167. 
Conscience,  131-133. 

and  will,  219,  220. 

cultivation  of,  132. 

does  not  discriminate,  132. 
Consciousness,  37-40,  46. 

applications  of,  to  teaching,  43. 

below  man,  45. 

morbid  state  of,  40. 
Conversation,  an  expressional  ex- 
ercise, 237. 
Correlation,  261. 
Country  teacher,  the,  182. 
Courtesy,  63. 
Creation,  230. 
"Culture  epochs,"  276. 
Curiosity,  139-141. 

Debating,  an    expressional    exer- 
cise, 240. 
Declaiming,  240. 
Deduction,  194. 

compared  with  induction,  197, 
198. 
Deductive  method,  275,  276. 
Deductive  reasoning,  194. 
Definition,  definition  of,  165. 

parts  of,  165. 

reached  by  induction,  275. 

value  of,  168. 
Denotation,  167. 
Departmental  teaching,  262. 
Desires,  13S. 

defined,  118. 

intellectual,  139. 

moral,  144. 

physical,  13S. 
Developing,  14. 

corresponds      to     assimilation, 
255- 


INDEX. 


307 


Development,  a  process  in  teach- 
ing, 14. 

Diagrams,  253,  255,  256,  258. 

Discrimination,  99,  161. 

Disease  and  expectant  attention, 
52. 

Distinctness  of  concepts,  169. 

Division,  170. 

Doubt,  105. 

Drawing,  75. 
an  cxpressional  exercise,  237. 

Ear  training,  74. 
Education: 

aesthetic,  280. 

denned,  13-15. 

formal,  13,  244,  255,  256,  258. 

formative,  245. 

intellectual,  252,  278. 

moral,  256,  257,  280. 

no  "  formula"  of,  2S7. 

of  feelings,  146. 

of  the  senses,  72. 

organization  of,  248. 

physical,  24S-250,  277. 

problems  of,  245,  300-303. 

reformative,  245. 

relation  of  psychology  to,  7,  8. 

time  of,  may  be  reduced,  302. 
Efferent  nerves,  23. 
Efferent  stream,  a  motor  stream, 31. 
Ego,  33. 
Emotions,  classification  of,  119. 

defined,  118,  134. 

intellectual,  120. 

moral,  127. 

physical,  119. 
English,  value  of,  241. 
Enthymeme,  194. 
Environment  and   character,  215, 

226. 
Envy,  138. 
Ephebics,  284. 
Ethics,  107. 
Examinations,  303. 
Experiments   to    cultivate    judg- 
ment, 201. 
Expression,  230. 

corresponds  to  training,  255. 

cultivation  of,  232-243. 

in  recitation,  233-236. 


Expression,  intellectual,  231,  234- 

243- 
moral,  231,  234. 
physical,  230,  233. 
reaction  of,  on  character,  231. 
relative  time  to  give  to,  260. 
studies  for  cultivating,  237-240, 

254-256,  258. 
test  of  teacher's  work,  242. 
written,  236. 
Expressive    powers,    relative   ac- 
tivity of,  253. 
Extension  of  concepts,  16S. 
Eye  training,  75. 

Faculties,  a  psychological  term,  9. 
Fancy,  112. 

danger  of,  113. 
Fantasy,  112. 
Fear,  123. 
Feeling,  aesthetic,  126. 

common,  119. 
Feelings,  118. 

alternation  of,  145. 

education  of,  146. 

social,  144. 
Forgetting,  80,  95. 
Formal  education,  253,  255,  256, 
258. 

applications  of   psychology  to, 
244. 

means  of,  13. 
Formative  education,  245. 
Forms  for  recording  psychic  ob- 
servations, 290-299. 
Functions  of  nerve  tissue,  22. 

Ganglia,  23,  24. 
Ganglion,  24. 

Geography,    as    an    acquisitional 
study,  187. 
method  in,  269. 
outline  of,  177. 
Grammar,     in    cultivating    judg- 
ment, 203. 
method  in,  273,  275. 
outline  of,  177. 
Grammar   school,   formal  educa- 
tion in,  255,  256,  258. 

Habit,  and  character,  66. 


;o8 


PSYCHO  LOG  V  IN  EDUCA  T/OJV. 


Habit,  and  reflex  action,  26. 

application  of,  to  teaching,  61. 

danger  of,  60. 

defined,  55. 

how  formed,  56,  65. 

in  school,  62. 

intellectual,  58. 

kinds  of,  57. 

moral,  59. 

physical,  57. 

value  of,  59. 
Happiness,  121. 

Harmony  with  God,  a  natural  de- 
sire, 144. 
"  Hasty  generalization,"  199. 
Hate,  137. 
Hearing,  71. 
Highest  motive,  224. 
High  school,  formal  education  in, 

255,  256,  258. 
History,  and  imagination,  214. 

in  cultivating  judgment,  203. 

method  in,  269,  272. 

outline  of,  178. 
Home,  formal  education  in,  258. 

mind  study  in,  289. 
Hope,  122. 
Humor,  124,  125. 

Ideals  and  imagination,  215. 
Identification,  164. 
Identity,  personal,  38. 
Imagination,  109. 

and  biography,  215. 

and  character,  215. 

and  ideals,  215. 

and  memory,  79,  no. 

cultivation  of,  212. 

defined,  in. 

in  art  and  science,  115. 

in  children,  211. 

in  geography,  214. 

in  history,  214. 

in  language  and  literature,  213. 

in  mathematics,  214. 

in  reading,  213. 

inventive,  116. 

practical,  113. 

sympathetic,  115. 

value  of,  114. 
Imagining,  206. 


Imagining,     application      of,     to 

teaching,  210. 
Imitativeness,  144. 
Immortality  of  mind,  37. 
Indifference,  120. 
Individual  concepts,  163. 
Individual  teaching,  300. 
Induction,  compared  with  deduc- 
tion, 197,  198. 

denned,   195. 

value  of,  196,  205. 
Inductive  method,  274. 
Inductive  reasoning,  195. 
Inhibition,  26. 
Instinct,  55,  56. 
Instructing,  14. 

corresponds  to  acquisition,  255. 
Intellect,  67. 
Intellectual  desires,  139. 
Intellectual  education,  252.  27S. 
Intellectual  emotions,  120. 
Intelligence  and  brain,  30. 
Interest,  48,  49. 

value  of,  in  management,  264. 
Introspection,  9. 
Intuition,  77,  98. 
Irritability  of  nerve  matter,  22. 

Jealousy,  138. 
Judging,  100. 
Judgment,  aesthetic,  103. 

application  of,  to  teaching,  106. 

as  a  guide,  105. 

as  a  measurer,  101. 

cultivation  of,  199-203. 

defined,  98,  99. 

determines  right  and  wrong, 131. 

functions  of,  100. 

in  reasoning,  192. 

kinds  of,  100. 

moral,  104,  107. 

the  relational  faculty,  98. 

training  of  ethical,  107. 
Judgments,  192. 
Judicial  temper,  101. 

Kindergarten,    formal    education 
in,  255,  256,  258. 

Laboratory  method  in  psychology, 
11. 


WDEX. 


309 


Language  and  literature,  and  im- 
agination, 213. 

Law  of  relation,  91. 

Laws  of  association,  87. 
of  memory,  S4-91. 

Learning  involves  acquisition  and 
assimilation,  270. 

Literature  and  language,  and  im- 
agination, 213. 

Living,  a  philosophy  of,  227. 

Logical  memory,  83. 

Logical  vs.  psychological  method, 
26S. 

Love,  134. 

Management,  263,  264. 
Manual  training,  251. 
Manu-mental  training,  251. 
Materialism  and  the  will,  151. 
Mathematics,  imagination  in,  214. 
Melancholy,  119,  120. 
Memory,  aid  to,  262. 

and  imagination,  79,  no. 

applications    of,    to    teaching, 

93- 

cramming,  43. 

defined,  79. 

explanation  of,  81. 

functions  of,  79. 

involuntary,  81. 

kinds  of,  81. 

laws  of,  84-91. 

logical,  83. 

training  of,  96. 

verbal,  83. 

voluntary,  81. 
Mental  activity.  34,  35. 

and  brain  rest,  32. 

and  brain  waste,  29. 

and  nutrition,  32. 

and  physical  environment,  32. 

classified,  42. 

conditions  of,  46. 
Mental  inertia,  36. 
Mental  operations,  43,  232. 
Mental  phenomena  classified,  16- 

20. 
Method,  analytic,  271. 

analytico-synthetic,  273. 

chief  principle  of,  277. 

deductive,  275,  276. 


Method,  differs  from  methods,  267 

in  arithmetic,  274. 

in  civics,  269. 

in  geography,  269. 

in  grammar.  273,  275. 

in  history,  269,  272. 

in  physiology,  269,  272,  273. 

inductive,  274. 

laboratory,  in  psychology.  11. 

observational,    in    psychology^ 
10. 

psychological  vs.  logical,  268. 

synthetic,  273. 
Methodology,  265. 
Methods,  of  studying  psychology, 

9-13- 

record  of,  303. 
Mind,  active  in  a  right  direction, 
35- 

and  nerve  tissue,  22,  27. 

compared    with    the    body,    34, 
229. 

denned,  36,  37. 

immortality  of,  37. 

in  nerve  matter,  22. 

independent  of  body,  35. 

influence  of,  on  the  body,  29. 

naturally  active,  34. 

of  animals,  45. 

operations  of,  43,  155. 

what  is  it,  33. 
Mind  cure,  2S. 
Mind  study,  284,  289. 

record  forms  for,  290-299. 

some  publications  on,  289. 

vs.    grades    and    examinations, 
303- 
Mnemonics,  84. 

Modeling,  an  expressional  exer- 
cise, 237. 
Moral  desires,  144. 
Moral  education,  256,  257,  2S0. 
Moral  emotions,  127. 
Motives,  145. 

not  a  cause  of  willing,  218. 

rational,  226. 

the  highest,  224. 
"  M's,  the  three,"  266. 
Muscle  training,  75. 
Muscular  sense,  69. 
Music,  73,  237. 


3io 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


Nature  study,  1S1-184. 
Nervousness  of  children,  32. 
Nerve  systems,  23. 
Nerve  tissue,  22,  27. 
Nerves,  afferent,  23. 

efferent,  23. 

functions  of,  22. 
Nutrition  and  mental  activity,  32. 

Obedience,  64,  106. 
Object  teaching,  48,  140,  184,  270. 
Observation,  68. 

Observational  method  in  psychol- 
ogy, 10. 
Observations,     classification     of 
psychic,  10, 2S8. 

forms   for    recording    psychic, 
290-299. 

recording,  76. 
Operations  of  the  mind,  43,  155, 

232. 
Orderliness,  62. 
Outlining,  by  division,  170. 

by  partition,  170. 

defined,  170. 

examples  of,  16,  173-178. 

rules  for,  171,  176. 

supersedes  text-books,  173. 

systems  of,  173. 

value  of,  172,  178. 
Outline  of  psychology,  16. 

Paidological  observations,  295. 
Paidology,  284. 
Partition,  170. 
Patriotism,   135,  136. 
Perception,  68,  156-159. 
Percepts,  98,  156. 

the  elements  of  knowledge,  159. 
Personal  identity,  38. 
Personal  responsibility,  41,  153. 
Philanthropy,  136. 
Philosophy  of  living,  227. 
Physical  basis,  21. 

applications  of,  to  teaching,  30. 
Physical  desires,  138. 
Physical  education,  248,  277. 

in  cities,  250. 

in  colleges,  250. 

in  country,  249. 
Physical  emotions,  119. 


Physiology,    as    an   acquisitional 
study,  188. 

method  in,  269,  272,  273. 

not  psychology,  21. 
Physiological  psychology,  II. 
Pity,  127-130. 
Pleasure  in  doing,  43. 
Premises,  194. 
Presentative  faculties,  67. 
Primary  school,  formal  education 

in,  258. 
Principles  of  teaching,  270,  275, 

277-281. 
Prizes  and  rewards,  225. 
Psychic  observations,  10. 

classification  of,  288. 

records  of,  288,  290-299. 

value  of,  287. 
Psychogenesis,  284. 
Psychological  vs.  logical  method, 

268. 
Psychology,    application     of,     to 
formal  education,  244. 

comparative,  10. 

defined,  3. 

methods  of  studying,  9-13. 

outline  of,  16. 

relation  of,  to  education,  7,  8. 
Psycho-physics,  11. 

too  much  stress  on,  2S5. 
Punctuality,  63. 
Punishment,  108. 

Quickness,  64. 

Rational  motive,  226. 
Reaction  time,  90. 
Reading,    an   acquisitional    exer- 
cise, 186. 
an  expressional  exercise,  239. 
supplementary,  1S6. 
Reasoning,  cultivating  power  of, 
199-205. 
deductive,  194. 
denned,  192. 
inductive,  195. 
Recitation,  261. 
an   expressional  exercise,   233- 

236. 
must    be    in    pupils'    language, 
235- 


INDEX. 


311 


Recitation,  written,  236. 
Recollection,  81,  82. 
Record  forms,  290-299. 
Record  of  methods,  303. 
"  Record  of  virtue,"  216. 
Recording  observations,  etc.,  76. 
Rellex  action,  25,  26. 

becomes  volitional,  151. 
Reformative  education,  245. 
Relation,  law  of,  91. 
Relational  faculty,  98. 
Remembrance,  81. 
Remorse,  131. 
Representative  faculty,  79. 
Reproduction,  43,  156,  229. 
Responsibility,  personal,  41,  153. 
Rest,  brain,  32. 
Retention,  86,  179. 
Reverence,  130. 
Reviews,  97. 

Rewards  and  prizes,  225. 
Rhythm,  301. 
Ridicule,  124. 

School  management,  263. 
Self-building,  217. 
Self-conceit,  40. 
Self-consciousness,  38,  40,  47. 
Self-control,  223. 
Self-love,  141,  142. 
Sensation,  68. 
Sense  association,  92,  95. 
Sense  organs,  23. 
Senses,  67. 

aesthetic,  180. 

education  of,  72. 

protective  value  of,  72. 

tests  of,  73. 

training  of,  72-77. 

value  of,  71. 
Sensibilities,  1 18. 
Sensitiveness,  40. 
Sensorium,  24,  67. 
Shame,  123,  124. 
Sight,  70. 

Skill,  and  discrimination,  161. 
Smell,  71. 

Social  feelings,  144. 
Society,  an  organism,  247. 

has  a  psychic  existence,  246. 
Sorrow,  122. 


Spelling,    an   acquisitional    exer- 
cise, 187. 
Studies,     acquisitional,     1S1-188, 
254,  256,  25S. 

arrangement  of,  258-260. 

assimilational,  199,  254,  256,  258. 

expressional,  237-240,  254-256, 
258. 
Superstition,  53. 
Supplementary  reading,  186. 
Surprise,  120. 
Syllogism,  194. 

Sympathetic  nervous  system,  23. 
Sympathy,  127-130,  283. 
Synthetic  method,  273. 

Tact,  103. 
Taste,  71. 

aesthetic,  103. 
Teacher,  a  revealer  of  truth,  55. 

advantages  of,  in  country,  182. 

an  example,  227. 

compared  with  physician,  7. 

must  know  more  than  subject- 
matter,  265. 
Teaching,    applications    to.     See 
Applications. 

assimilation  in,  210. 

defined,  13-15. 

departmental,  262. 

individual,  300. 

object,  48.  140,  184,  270. 

principles  of,  270,  275,  277-281. 
Temper,  judicial,  101. 
Temperature  sense,  69. 
Tests  of  the  senses,  75. 
Text-book,  concentration  in,  263, 

in  recitation,  173. 

superseded  by  outlining,  173. 
Text-book  work,  200. 
Thoroughness,  281. 
Thought  without  words,  164. 
Time  of  formal  education  reduci- 
ble, 302. 

reaction,  90. 

relative,  for  studies,  260. 
Touch,  68. 
Toys,  211. 
Training,  14. 

aesthetic,  126. 

corresponds  to  expression,  255. 


312 


PSYCHOLOGY  IN  EDUCA  TION. 


Training,  in  English,  241. 
manual,  251. 
manu-mental,  251. 
of  the  ear,  74. 
of  the  eye,  75. 
of  the  memory,  96. 
of  the  muscles,  75. 
of  the  senses,  72-77. 

University,  formal   education  in, 
255,  256,  258. 

Veracity,  65. 


Will,  148. 

and  conscience,  219,  220. 

and  materialism,  151. 

defined,  149. 

development  of,  150. 

diseased,  153. 

expression  of,  150. 

faculty  of  expression,  149. 

in  attention,  47. 

is  free,  217. 
Willing,  applications  of,  to  teach- 
ing, 222. 
Worry,  224. 


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White's  (E.  E.)  Elements  of  Pedagogy 

School  Management      ..... 

PSYCHOLOGY 

Bain's  (A.)  Mental  Science 

Hal  leek's  (R.  P.)  Psychology  and  Psychic  Culture 

Hewett's  (E.  C.)  Psychology  for  Young  Teachers 

Putnam's  (D.)  Elementary  Psychology 

Roark's  (R.  N.)  Psychology  in  Education     . 
FOR  THE  TEACHER'S  DESK 

Morris's  Scripture  Readings 

Eclectic  Manual  of  Methods 

Eclectic  Teacher's  New  Examiner 

Swett's  Questions  for  Written  Examination 

Appletons'  How  to  Teach  Writing 

Morris's  (R.  A.)  Physical  Education 

Smart's  Manual  of  School  Gymnastics 

White's  Oral  Lessons  in  Number 

Dubbs's  Arithmetical  Problems.     Teachers'  Edition 

Doerner's  Treasury  of  General  Knowledge.     Part  I. 
The  Same.     Part  II.     .... 

Webster's  Academic  Dictionary.     New  Edition   . 


Copies  of  any  of  the  above  books  will  be  sent  prepaid  to  any  address,  on 

receipt  of  the  price,  by  the  Publishers: 

American    Book   Company 

New  York  ♦  Cincinnati  ♦ 


Chicago 


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